


like we used to

by AvengerofSquids



Series: hold me close [1]
Category: Minecraft (Video Game), Video Blogging RPF
Genre: Angst, Coming Out, Dissociation, Eventual Happy Ending, Fluff and Angst, Fluff and Hurt/Comfort, Friendship, Gay Panic, Gen, GeorgeNotFound-centric (Video Blogging RPF), Good Friend Sapnap (Video Blogging RPF), Hopeful Ending, Hurt/Comfort, Implied/Referenced Self-Harm, Internalized Homophobia, Jealous GeorgeNotFound (Video Blogging RPF), M/M, Miscommunication, No Smut, Panic Attacks, Pining, Pining GeorgeNotFound (Video Blogging RPF), Pre-Slash, Sad GeorgeNotFound (Video Blogging RPF), Slow Burn, Tags will be added, Touch-Starved, Touch-Starved GeorgeNotFound (Video Blogging RPF), argument, it's unintentional don't worry, most of the tw tags only apply later in the fic, this starts out pretty fluffy but will have a rough patch
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-11-20
Updated: 2021-02-03
Packaged: 2021-03-09 22:40:41
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 7
Words: 19,019
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27623516
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AvengerofSquids/pseuds/AvengerofSquids
Summary: George keeps quiet; he wants to speak up, maybe say something encouraging, but he worries that if Dream's interrupted he'll lose his train of thought or maybe drop the subject altogether. He shifts in his seat instead, one knee coming up to his chest as he rests his elbow on it."I'm not, I think-" Dream lets out a huff, the sound nearly too faint for the microphone to pick up. "I'm pretty sure I'm bisexual.".Dream comes out. This shouldn't change anything for George.Itdoesn't.(Summary may change)
Relationships: Clay | Dream & GeorgeNotFound & Sapnap (Video Blogging RPF), Clay | Dream & Patches the Cat (Video Blogging RPF), Clay | Dream & Sapnap (Video Blogging RPF), Clay | Dream/GeorgeNotFound (Video Blogging RPF), GeorgeNotFound & Sapnap (Video Blogging RPF), GeorgeNotFound & Wilbur Soot
Series: hold me close [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2019644
Comments: 92
Kudos: 442





	1. all this talk

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> First: obligatory "if the Dream Team ever has issues with fanfiction I will take this down" disclaimer. This is purely for fun and I have no intentions to make them uncomfortable. 
> 
> Second: this fic was originally just one scene, but there's been a lot going on in my life rn so I felt really inspired to continue this so it ended up becoming a whole fic. Most of the fic is pretty fluffy (maybe not fluffy but not too angsty at least) but there is one part that will get pretty rough. This fic deals with struggling with internalized homophobia and some of the problems that can come about from a lack of proper communication. Trigger warnings will be put in the notes for each chapter if they apply.
> 
> I will try to update this twice a week but I can't guarantee that. Life has been crazy <3
> 
> This was meant to be a quick thing to write as a break from the longfic I'm working on. _This was meant to be a quick thing to write as a break from the longfic I'm working on._ It turned into exactly the opposite :)

"I'm so close, you guys." George sighs, mouse hovering over his files as he thinks. "I really like that song you sent me, Dream, but it's just too long and I can't crop it without the audio cutting off weirdly."

"Here, send the footage my way and I'll rec you some songs." Sapnap offers, typing away at his keyboard. George drops a link in the Discord before getting back to editing.

The new song fits a lot better and George is able to fit the scene in with minimal cuts, which is great because he'd been worried about losing too much of the battle footage. The recording had been them mostly just goofing around but there were a few moments that he was determined to keep in even if they didn't really fit the flow of the video.

George leans back in his chair and frowns at his screen. "Do you think thirty minutes is okay for this video? I was trying to cut it down to not much more than twenty but Dream spent so much time meming around with the doors, and I can't really get rid of that because if I had to suffer through it, so should the rest of the world."

"This was the Fish Challenge, right? Oh my god, Dream, you were so ridiculous when we were recording that!" Sapnap blurts out with a chuckle. "Don't cut that out, I made some pretty good jokes there. Also, we need the video proof of us finding that stacked shipwreck so people don't think we cheated."

"Good point. You fine with that, Dream? Or do you want me to cut some of it out?" George pauses, but doesn't get an answer. "Dream? You there?"

"Mhm? Oh, yeah, that's fine," Dream mumbles, voice muffled. "Use all the footage if you want to."

George frowns at Dream's little green profile picture, trying to decide if he should say anything. He doesn't end up having to make a choice because Sapnap speaks up first.

"You good, dude? You've been kinda distracted this whole call." Sapnap points out, tone soft and far from accusing.

"Editing giving you some trouble as well?" George offers as a sort of olive branch, giving Dream an easy out in case whatever's bothering him is something he doesn't feel like talking about.

Dream scoffs before letting out a quiet chuckle. "Obviously; have you _seen_ the footage you guys sent me? I swear you record everything but the important parts, it's so stupid." He pauses, then breathes out a sigh. "I've been having some trouble sleeping, too; got a lot on my mind."

"Wanna talk about it?" Sapnap asks, fingers going still on his keyboard.

"Yeah. Yeah, I'd like to," Dream says, but he sounds somewhat hesitant. "Um, give me a sec to try and explain. So over the past year I've gotten to meet a lot of people, you know? Learn new things, learn about myself. I've been trying to figure out the kind of person I wanna be, as life goes on, and to do that I need to be certain of who I am today. Which means that I've been, well. . ."

Dream fidgets, giving a shaky laugh. George can hear rustling as he presumably fiddles with his hoodie sleeves, something he always does when he's nervous. "I've been thinking about a lot of things that I don't normally think about? About myself and what I- who I like. It's been on my mind for a while but I've just kinda ignored it before now."

George keeps quiet; he wants to speak up, maybe say something encouraging, but he worries that if Dream's interrupted he'll lose his train of thought or maybe drop the subject altogether. He shifts in his seat instead, one knee coming up to his chest as he rests his elbow on it.

"I'm not, I think-" Dream lets out a huff, the sound nearly too faint for the microphone to pick up. "I'm pretty sure I'm bisexual."

There's a beat of silence before Sapnap rushes to fill it.

"Really? Thank you for telling us, dude. For a second I thought you about to confess that you wanted to murder me or something, not gonna lie." Sapnap chuckles and Dream quickly follows suit, sounding more relieved than anything else. "But yeah, I'm really happy for you."

George stares at the screen, trying to come up with something to say, but everything he can think of feels cheesy and insincere. He's never- he doesn't know how he's supposed to react. Would making a big deal out of it cheer Dream up or make him uncomfortable? _Should I just try to play it casual? But what if that sounds dismissive?_

"That's cool," George manages to say, trying to understand why he feels like he's just run into a wall. It shouldn't be a big deal. Why is it a big deal? _It's not._ Dream is still the exact same person as he was five minutes ago; nothing's changed.

Sapnap cackles, leaning away from his mic. "You're ridiculous, George. Surely you can come up with something a bit better than that. You always get so awkward during any kind of important conversation."

George's phone pings, and he glances down to read Sapnap's messages.

> **Simplesnapple** : _Dude just say something nice so he doesn't feel like you're upset at him_
> 
> **Simplesnapple** : _I know you're normally quiet during any serious talks but it's really important that he feels accepted <3_
> 
> **Simplesnapple** : _Trust me I know that you don't have a problem with it but make sure he knows that_

George clears his throat, moving closer to the mic. "Uh, but yeah, anyways, I'm not quite sure what. . .um. Congratulations? Oh my god."

He buries his face in his hands with a groan, feeling his cheeks growing warmer. He's not even sure what just came out of his mouth. Dream giggles, voice shaky but sounding happier than he has all day. 

"Don't worry about it, don't worry. I get what you're trying to say." George can almost hear him smiling. "Thank you, both of you. I love you guys."

George grins, echoing the sentiment along with Sapnap. He's pretty sure Dream was crying. He's certain they were happy tears.

"So how about that challenge idea Sapnap had mentioned earlier? The team-based Mob Hunt thing." George says, trying to turn the conversation back in a normal direction. He wants to make sure Dream knows that nothing's changed. That they're still a team, no matter what. "Did you have any ideas to prevent sabotage?"

George knows that Dream being bisexual wouldn't-- _doesn't_ \--change anything. If anything, Dream will probably be happier now that he's figured out this part of himself. The problem is that George still feels like his world's been shaken.

The thing is, he and Dream have talked before about finding guys attractive. George had always thought they were just joking around. Maybe not joking around, but not being very serious, at least. Sapnap often teased them for it, saying that _it's nice to have two straight friends who know a good-looking guy when they see one because I know whenever you say I'm handsome you mean it._

They'd talked in private about it, too, and Dream had mentioned finding many of the same things attractive in guys that George did. _Maybe I'm not as straight as I think,_ Dream had joked at the time, after they'd binge-watched The Bachelorette together and argued over which of the guys they'd pick. George had laughed and agreed, saying that he felt like he had better taste in men than the woman on the show did.

Now it turns out that Dream wasn't joking. Dream, who was very similar to George in a lot of ways, who was attracted to men in what seemed like almost the same way that George was, _wasn't straight._

_Where does that leave me?_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Shoutout to all my Discord pals, especially the DTSS <3 You all have been amazing and I wouldn't have written this without you. I would give you each individual shoutouts but there are just too many of you lovely people :)
> 
> I've kinda been writing this fic backwards tbh, I have like most of the middle and last half written but the first half is still in progress. I was debating having this first chapter be a fully written scene but I felt like it was important to show it rather than just have George reference this scene. Not super happy with it but that's fine because it's just to help build things up <3
> 
> This is affectionately nicknamed "GeorgeNoHomo" in my WIPs folder :)
> 
> Please note: Different people come out in different ways. Sapnap was able to joke around with Dream because he knew that would make Dream feel relaxed and accepted, but he's also really close friends with Dream. For some people having friends joke when they come out could be really discouraging. Don't take any of this as a "what to do/what not to do" thing please.


	2. staying in bed today

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> He knows he likes girls. How does he know that? He's kissed them, made out with them, dated them; all of the above. He finds them pretty and could always joke around with his friends when they saw someone they think is hot. 
> 
> He doesn't think he's ever _wanted_ to kiss a girl.
> 
> .
> 
> George starts to put some things together.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Content warnings: internalized homophobia, also George doesn't really know what he's talking about so he uses some terminology incorrectly
> 
> The first half of this chapter killed me to write, the second half was fun. I'm ready to move on to the next chapter <3

The thing is, George is certain he's straight. He _has_ to be straight. There's no way he isn't.

He's never been interested in dating guys before. Never looked at any of his friends during all his years of high school and thought, _I want to kiss him_. Would never even consider doing, well, _other stuff_ with a guy; if he's being honest, he wouldn't even be sure _how_ to.

If he was gay or bi or whatever, he would know. That's just something you _know_ , right? From a young age? 

_Dream only just figured it out,_ a small part of his brain whispers. _And even now, he's still not entirely certain. Maybe it's not as clear cut as you think it is._

George opens up Google and gets through two words before his hands freeze on the keyboard. He doesn't- this isn't going to help. Searching stuff like _am I gay or just confused_ is just going to leave him with more questions than answers. It won't fix anything.

He's straight. He _knows_ he is.

He needs to be sure.

Searching up random things on Google until he stumbles across a halfway-helpful article isn't going to help. He needs to find stuff written by people going through the exact same confusion that he is.

Eventually he settles on scrolling through several LGBTQ+ subreddits focused on helping people who are "questioning" or are otherwise unsure. Once he sifts through the memes, he finds a whole slew of posts made by people who had some kind of "gay awakening" and are now trying to figure out if they're straight.

He only manages to read through four of them--each one similar to his own experiences, all but one ending up with the person coming out as gay or something else--before his hands start shaking.

George turns his computer off and buries his face in his hands, chewing on his lip as he struggles to think. He needs to go through this logically.

He knows he likes girls. How does he know that? He's kissed them, made out with them, dated them; all of the above. He finds them pretty and could always joke around with his friends when they saw someone they think is hot. 

He doesn't think he's ever _wanted_ to kiss a girl.

George pushes his chair back roughly and stands, filled with too much pent-up energy to keep still. He paces, pulling a hoodie off his bed as he passes it and tugging it on so he can chew on the sleeves as he thinks.

_Was I ever really attracted to any of them?_

He never sought out a relationship in high school and college; he was always the one approached. He never did more than kiss a girl unless he was at a party, and even then, it was almost always because he was drunk. Usually, she was the one who started it. 

One very distinct memory he has from high school is a time when several of his classmates were pretending to be jealous of a friend who had a "hot girlfriend" while they were single. They'd joked about how he shouldn't bring her to the party that weekend because they wouldn't be able to keep their eyes off of her. George had laughed along with them because they were just messing around. He'd _thought_ they were messing around.

 _Were they_ not _joking? Is that how I'm supposed to feel when I'm around an attractive woman? Like it's impossible to look away? It's more than just thinking that she's pretty and moving on with my day?_

But he doesn't feel that way about guys, either. In fact, he'd say the exact opposite; he wants to look _away_. It makes him feel anxious and _wrong_ to stare at a guy.

George pulls up Google on his phone, types _attractive celebrity dude_ into the search bar, and swipes over to images. Sure enough, it's not long before his gut twists uncomfortably and his throat goes tight.

He blinks.

Oh. _Oh_. Is this what attraction's supposed to feel like?

The phone slips out of his hand and bounces against the bed. He doesn't bother to pick it back up.

He needs some time to think about this.

* * *

Dream barks out a laugh, cackling so loudly that George has to pull his phone away from his ear. "Oh my god, Dream, it really isn't that funny."

"It _is!_ It's so-" Dream's voice tapers off into a wheeze, hand smacking against the desk as he struggles to breathe. "It's just so stupid! This show is trash! Why would he _do_ that, I don't even know!"

George giggles, shifting to a more comfy position on his bed as he digs through his snack bowl in search of a pretzel. "That's why we watch it in the first place, Dream. We went into it knowing how stupid it would be, don't act surprised now."

"I really thought she'd go for the first guy, though. The other guy was attractive but he was kinda a dick." Dream's chair creaks as he leans back. "To be honest, it felt like she had the most chemistry with that side character at the football stadium. Can't believe they didn't even become friends."

"Yeah, yeah, I get that. Who knows, maybe he'll show up again. We still have half a season left." George gives up on his search and sets his bowl to the side, collapsing backwards onto the bed and letting out a groan. "I'm so _wiped_."

Dream chuckles. "Dude, it's like barely four o'clock where you are. What were you doing today? Did you have a secret stream I wasn't invited to or something?"

 _I spent three hours pacing around wondering if I'm not straight._ George sighs, hoping none of his nerves come through in his voice. "Nah, just been kinda stressed over this latest video. I can't get it to work the way I want it to."

"Well, you know I'm always available to help if you want. Sometimes all you need is a second pair of eyes," Dream offers.

"Ew, couldn't you have worded that a bit better? But thanks." George snickers, running a hand through his hair. After a moment's hesitation, he adds, "So which of those guys would you have dated, then? The first one?"

"Hmm? Oh!" George can _hear_ how Dream lights up, and he doesn't even try to force down his own smile. _Nothing's changed._ "To be honest, I wouldn't choose any of them, but if I _had_ to pick one I'd probably go with the first. The second guy was hotter but I wanna punch him. What about you?"

"Um." George frowns, trying to actually think about his answer instead of just blurting out the first person that comes to mind. He doesn't _think_ he'd kiss any of them? Maybe? _Do I think the other guy's actually attractive or am I just telling myself that?_ "...I'm not sure."

"Really? Huh." Dream drums his fingers against the desk. "The side character was totally your type."

George sputters, nearly dropping his phone. "Wh- I don't have a type! I _don't_." He stresses when Dream starts wheezing. "Dream, I'm _straight_ , I can't have a type!"

Dream sobers up instantly, going quiet; George feels guilt pool in his gut when he realizes how snappy his tone had been. "It's just a joke, George, don't worry. You normally pick guys like that, is all."

"What, nerds? What are you trying to say about me, Dream?" George throws in an exaggerated eye roll for good measure, doing his best to keep his voice light. "I'd rather date a jock who could, like, bench press me or something."

Dream absolutely _shrieks_ with laughter, then lets out a startled yelp before his voice goes faint. George sits upright, glancing down at his phone. "Dream? Did you knock something over?"

"I-" Dream's voice returns to its normal volume, followed by a bunch of rustling. "I just fell out of my fucking chair, George, I cannot believe you! What the hell was that?"

"What was what? I was just answering your question!" George blurts out.

"Dude, literally anyone could bench press you. I could probably bench press you; you're tiny! You need higher standards." Dream takes a sip of water before he starts giggling and chokes on it again. "George! Now my shirt's wet!"

"It's not _my_ fault, stop finding the stupidest shit funny!" George whines, forcefully dragging his thoughts away from the idea of Dream bench pressing him. It's such a _dumb_ thing to be thinking about; he has no clue why his brain latched on to it in the first place. "You're such an idiot."

"No, _you're_ an idiot, that's why I love you. Ooh, Patches, c'mere!" Dream starts making the most bizarre clicking noises and patting his lap. "Come on, darling, up up!"

"Can I see her?" George asks.

"Yeah, just give me a sec to switch to my phone." Dream hangs up; a few moments later, George gets a video call request and answers it to the sound of a loudly purring cat.

"Aww, she's precious." Patches is curled up in Dream's lap, pawing at his blanket as she rubs her cheek against his leg. Dream's running one hand through her fur as he holds the phone with the other. "Tell her I love her."

"Patches, George says he loves you even though he never says it to _me,_ " Dream coos, his voice sing-song as he continues to pet her. George realizes he's watching Dream's hands more than the cat and tears his gaze away. "You'd better feel so lucky right now."

"I say I love you all the time, Dream, just never on stream. I love you; see? Boom, there, I said it again." George laughs, but there's something uncomfortable curling in his gut that he's never felt before while saying it. He swallows. "But you're right, I love Patches the most."

Dream's hand flutters up like he's about to clap before he seems to remember he's holding a phone and starts petting the cat again. "I'll take second place any day, Patches deserves all the love."

"You're third place, actually." George grumbles, flipping his phone camera around to show Dream his empty bowl. "Because of you, I ate all my fucking pretzels; Sapnap's officially my favorite."

Dream lets out a dramatic groan and Patches gives a displeased _mrow_ at the noise. "George, how could you? I'm so betrayed! One day you'll realize how hot I am and your mind will be changed, I swear. Sapnap doesn't hold a candle to me, I have _freckles_."

"Dream, stop," George says, but he's giggling. "You're so ridiculous, what the hell. You'd better have, like, a million freckles to be saying things like that. Besides, I thought they were mostly on your arms?"

"Right now, yeah, but in the summer I have them all over my face too. No, you can't have a picture, you'll have to wait until we meet up to see." Patches nips at Dream's hand and he yelps before cutting off the video feed. George can hear him moving around but can't tell what he's doing. "Honey, please, don't eat my hands."

"Not even one little picture?" George whines. There's a moment of silence; suddenly, his phone pings and he startles, nearly dropping it. It's a text from Dream with an image attached to it. 

George pales. _Did I really just pressure him into sending me a picture of his face?_ "Holy shit Dream, I was joking, please don't tell me you actually sent one."

He opens it; it's a blurry picture that looks like it was taking during Dream's merch photoshoot. His face is covered by the hoodie and he's holding a squirming Patches who's clearly trying to attack the strings of his hoodie.

It's the stupidest picture George has ever seen. He immediately saves it to his phone.

Dream's wheezing, and George hears a quiet thump as Patches jumps off his lap; Dream, of course, reacts dramatically. "No, don't leave me! _Patches!_ "

George chuckles and curls up on his bed, one hand coming up to rub at his eyes. He could honestly go to sleep now and still be happy with his day; Dream just seems to have that effect on him.

He hums. _Didn't I have something I wanted to ask him?_ His sleep-addled brain can't quite think of it, so he blurts out the first thing that comes to mind instead.

"Dream, did you-" George yawns, blinking hard and shaking his head. "Did you actually kiss a guy in the Nickelodeon Resort?"

Dream sucks in a quiet breath before falling silent; it takes George a second to realize what he's said, but once he does, his chest feels like it's just caved in. _Oh my god._ "Sorry, I'm sorry, you don't have to answer that, I shouldn't have-"

"Why?" Dream doesn't sound upset, but his voice is hesitant, carefully steady like he's forcing it to be even. _He's nervous._ "I'm fine with you asking, whatever, but why do you want to know?"

"Because I was teasing about you kissing a guy there during the stream, but if you actually did and it wasn't a joke, I'm sorry." George says; that's not really the reason the asked--he's not sure what the real reason _is,_ to be honest--but it is something that's been on his mind

"Wh- you're sorry that I kissed a guy?" Dream sputters, confused tone shifting to something more indignant. "What the hell does that mean?"

"No, no, that's not what I meant! I was trying to say that I'm sorry for joking about it, you know? I wasn't trying to make fun of you or anything and I thought you were playing along with it but looking back on it now, I'm worried that I was making you uncomfortable and I might've almost outed you and-"

"George, calm down, it's fine." Dream chuckles. George buries his face in his hands when he remembers his camera's still on. "But to answer your question, no, I didn't kiss a guy in the Nickelodeon Resort. It was a girl from school and I honestly don't think it really counts. I've kissed other guys, though."

"Oh." Something twists in George's gut. He shouldn't have a problem with hearing about how his friend's kissed other guys before; why does he have a problem with it? _It's not weird for two guys to kiss each other, I shouldn't feel uncomfortable hearing him talk about it._

"And as for joking about it on stream? Don't worry, I really don't care. It's funny." Dream shifts in his chair. "You wouldn't be outing me unless you specifically called me bisexual or something like that; we make these jokes all the time, that doesn't have to change."

"Good to know." George's phone pings; he frowns at the message. "Oh, Scott needs to talk to me about MCC teams for next month. They're still trying to balance it out."

"Supposedly they're planning to put me with Wilbur, but I'm not sure about the rest. Do you think they'll even let Tommy join this time? He's trying to convince them to put Techno on his team again."

George rolls his eyes. "I'll do my best to persuade them otherwise. Bye, Dream."

"Bye!" Dream shouts, then hangs up before George has the chance to. George sighs. _He's such an idiot._

_I'm so lucky to have him._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> George in this fic: _gets upset/jealous when he learns that Dream's kissed other guys_  
>  George, the brick, the dense idiot we all love: _sigh_ so today I learned I'm homophobic guys
> 
> I'm aiming for a Tuesday/Friday upload schedule but I can't promise anything <3 Thank you so much for all the lovely comments already!


	3. it doesn't matter

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> George smiles, rubbing the heel of his palm against his cheek. Dream feels too good to be real, sometimes; George hopes that meeting him will change that. It feels so _weird,_ knowing someone so well without actually having a solid image of them inside of his brain.
> 
> .
> 
> An announcement is made; George is busy thinking about a different one.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Do you notice that shiny new chapter total up at the top? Yeah I finally solidified my outline and felt confident enough to put that there. Now, depending on how long some of the later chapters are I might split two up and make it fourteen chapters, so it's just a rough estimate of the final count. There will end up being three fics in the main series + two planned one-chapter side fics that show things from different POVs if people are interested.
> 
> This chapter is short and doesn't have a lot happen but I needed to a: introduce a few plot points and b: drop a few hints that may or may not become important later :) It was the easiest to write so far, though! I have fun writing the three of them fooling around.
> 
> Oh fyi, this fic takes place in the future. Specifically, this chapter is at the very end of April 2021.

"Okay, so I was thinking- _George!_ " Sapnap mutters a curse, fingers tapping loudly against the keyboard as he chases George's character around the community house. "Put that back, put it back!"

George chuckles, tossing half the planks into the water before sprinting the other way, but Sapnap ignores them and keeps chasing. He manages to corner George in the farm and kill him before he can escape.

"That's what you get for taking me on without armor, nimrod." Sapnap shifts up and down several times on George's corpse before picking up all his items. "Stop stealing from my chests!"

"Stop building with ugly wood," George grumbles, trying to push Sapnap into the water. Sapnap just moves out of the way before punching him. "And give me my stuff back. _Dream,_ make him give me my stuff back!"

Dream wheezes, character peeking around the corner of the house to stare at them. "Boys, stop it. I'm trying to fix the second floor, let me work in peace."

" _Dream,_ " George whines, pulling a pouty face even though his face cam isn't on. He crouches and stares up at Dream, whose character's head is twitching like he's silently laughing. "He's being a child, Dream make him stop."

" _George,_ you-" Dream sing-songs in a poor imitation of George's accent before he cuts himself off with a giggle. George grins. "You're the one being a child right now!"

Sapnap takes advantage of George's distraction and kills him; George puts a _:(_ in the chat when he respawns. Dream laughs even louder, responding with a _:)_ before Sapnaps absolutely _floods_ the in-game chat with keyboard smashes.

George punches Sapnap, dying almost instantly, and Dream makes a choked sound like he's struggling to breathe. Out of the corner of his eye, George sees Dream's bright yellow character plummet off the side of the building and into the water below.

"Boys!" Dream shouts, followed by an aborted curse. He pearls over to Sapnap and whacks him with an axe. "You, drop his stuff. George, stop pestering him. I'm _working._ "

"Okay, _dad._ " George punches Dream as he passes him for good measure, yelping when Dream hits him with the axe too. Sapnap doesn't say anything, but a few seconds later a _yes daddy_ appears in their Discord groupchat.

George sputters. "You'd better hope the stream didn't see that, Simpycup."

Dream doesn't respond; he must not have seen it. Sapnap lets out a deranged cackle before running off. He still has most of George's stuff, but it wasn't anything too valuable so it's not really worth chasing after him.

George crouches, sneaking in circles around Dream's character. He isn't moving, actually. "Dream? You AFK?"

"Yeah, hold on a sec." There's some loud typing from Dream's end. "I just got an important message from someone."

 _Who?_ George wracks his brain but can't come up with anything. _Maybe he has a collab I don't know about?_

He waits in silence, the only sound being Sapnap's occasional comments as he works on whatever project he ran off to build.

"Oh!" Dream claps, loudly enough to startle George into walking off the edge of the bridge. "Guys, guy- wait, are you still streaming, Sapnap?"

"Yeah, but I'm almost done, just give me a second." Sapnap goes on mute, probably to read off his final donations and say goodbye to his viewers. Dream starts jumping around the bridge and George follows, struggling to keep up.

After a few minutes, Sapnap returns. Dream doesn't even wait for him to finish groaning about stream issues before jumping in with his announcement.

"I just got a message about MCC teams. I'm gonna play with George!" Dream shouts, smacking his desk in excitement.

"Let's _go!_ " George shrieks, closing his game and switching over to his Discord. Sure enough, there's a shiny new message from Scott announcing the teams for May's MCC. "Holy crap, it's been _ages_ since we've been put together."

"Yeah, not since October, right? I got to play with Sapnap in February but it's been a lot longer for you."

The teams seem to be pretty fairly balanced; George smiles when he sees his name right next to Dream's in the announcement. "We also have Wilbur and Nihachu. You've never actually done MCC with Wilbur before, have you?"

"No; I had Nihachu back in January, but I don't think I've ever played with Wilbur. Sapnap, your team looks pretty good. You gonna keep Karl's hundred-percent winrate going?" Dream asks, chuckling.

Sapnap pounds a fist on his desk, letting out an earnest holler. "Hell yeah I will! I'll drag Phil and TapL into practice _every day_ with us if that's what it takes to kick your butts. You're going _down._ "

"This MCC's supposed to be _crazy,_ though. Apparently there's something big planned. You excited?"

George leans forward and rests his chin in his hands as he studies the list. "Yeah. I'm also kinda nervous, though. Who knows what they're gonna throw at us."

His phone alarm starts buzzing and George winces, reaching over to shut it off. "Damn. Sorry guys, I should really get back to editing. Thanks for inviting us on, Sapnap!"

Before Sapnap can respond, Dream pipes up, cutting him off even as he spits out a slew of indignant curses. "Bye, George! Love you!"

"Love you guys too. See you on tomorrow's stream!" Once George has left the call, he buries his face in his arms with a groan. He wishes they could stay on call with him while he worked, but it's impossible to edit voice clips of friends when said friends are jabbering away in the background. 

_It's okay. I'll be able to talk with them tomorrow when we finish upgrading the house._ He shakes his head and doesn't even try to resist the fond smile that threatens to spread across his face. _I can't wait until we actually get to meet._

June. That's the deadline they had set for themselves several months ago, and it's fast-approaching; they haven't discussed it since then, but George is certain he's not the only one thinking about it. _We should probably start planning. That's less than two months, now._

He wonders what it's going to be like, staying with them for several weeks. George has no doubts they'll get along; sure, being online friends is not the same as hanging out in person, but they _know_ each other. They're connected, and nothing will change that.

Will Sapnap be as chaotic in person? Or would he be more easygoing, like how he usually is whenever they're practicing parkour offstream? Will they compete with each other just as much as they do in Minecraft? Will Dream have to step in whenever they get too riled up?

_Dream. I'm gonna get to see Dream._

George smiles, rubbing the heel of his palm against his cheek. Dream feels too good to be real, sometimes; George hopes that meeting him will change that. It feels so _weird,_ knowing someone so well without actually having a solid image of them inside of his brain.

He wonders if Dream moves his hands when he talks, shaking them and gesturing to prove his point better. Maybe he chews his lip when he thinks, just like George does whenever he's focused on a confusing line of code. Maybe when he laughs, he reaches out to the nearest person and holds onto them for support as he struggles to catch his breath.

George wonders if Dream likes hugs. He doesn't, not really, but he'd like to hug Dream. He thinks it'd be like holding the sun; it would hurt, but in a good way. It would be _warm._

His whole body is trembling when he finally manages to bring his focus back to himself. His room is cold, empty. He digs his fingers into his arms and shoots a longing glance at the Discord _Start Voice Call_ button. It's weird; he's never felt this way before, never been so alone that it _aches._

In the end, he doesn't press call. He has work to do.

George doesn't sleep well that night. Not because he dreams, but because he doesn't. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> George: yeah guys I'm doing just fine  
> Also George: literally dying of loneliness and touch starvation
> 
> Would you believe that the whole MCC subplot wasn't originally in the script? It was originally going to just be SMP plot stuff but with the way recent streams have been going I don't feel confident enough in George's role being large enough for it to affect him. Also MCC just fit better :)


	4. no i do not care

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sure enough, George's phone buzzes several times in quick succession. He's kinda scared to look, so he chooses to ignore it, but Dream pipes up with a groan loud enough to startle him. " _George_ , open your DMs."
> 
> "I'd rather not," George mutters, forcing down a smile as he tries to focus on sorting through his chests. "I'm kinda busy. Look at my stream, can't you see I'm in the middle of something?"
> 
> "I _am_ looking at your stream, George. Just open it, open it." Dream's voice drops, going soft and pleading. George's skin prickles. " _Please?_ "
> 
> .
> 
> Denial can only take you so far, and George is in denial over a lot of things. Eventually, something has to give.
> 
> Not yet, but eventually.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> In case you guys thought I was joking about how much I enjoy writing these three joking around, take this chapter which is twice as long as any of the others so far <3 This is a trend I'd like to keep going, now that we're actually dipping our toes into plot stuff. 
> 
> One thing I love but don't usually see in fics is how George will say the most random inappropriate shippy stuff and Dream will just,,,lose his mind. I had to do it okay :)

George is an hour and forty minutes into his stream when Dream finally enters the call, whining about _seagulls_ of all things.

"I'm never going outside again," Dream groans, voice becoming muffled as he buries his face in his arms. "They're like fu- freaking rats, I swear they have like a sixth sense for food or something. You know, I used to like taking my breakfast outside and going for a walk while eating, but at this point I'm basically risking my life. They go straight for the eyes!"

"What, are you just walking down the sidewalk with a plate of scrambled eggs? You eating pancakes on the move?" Sapnap asks, incredulous. "What if you trip and, like, impale yourself with your fork? I think the seagulls are trying to save your life."

Dream sits back upright and chuckles into the mic. "Nah, I take bagels and stuff. Food that's actually portable. Once they made me drop a whole slice of pizza, though; that sucked. I was considering just picking it up off the sidewalk and eating it anyways."

"Wouldn't be the grossest thing you've eaten, Mr. Cat Poo," Sapnap makes a retching sound that quickly morphs into a cackle. "You're so gross."

Dream makes a hilariously offended noise and starts firing back insults; George hurries to interrupt before it becomes a full-on tirade. 

"You're not doing a good job convincing me to fly down to Florida, Dream." George teases, leaning away from his computer so he can focus on listening to his friends as he waits for his iron to finish smelting. "First your AC keeps breaking, then you won't stop complaining about the rain, and now this. Are we gonna have to call off our marriage?"

He has to turn his headset down to half-volume as Dream lets out a little shriek before starting to sputter, unable to form complete sentences and even struggling to say _any_ understandable words at first. It's moments like this that make George wish Dream had a facecam. "I- you- I don't even, _what?_ George, what the hell?"

George covers his smile with one hand, idly chewing on his hoodie sleeve as he tries to keep his voice even. "You know, the visa marriage. You made fun of me on stream for it last year but never actually said no, so I assumed it was still on the table. Sapnap can be our witness."

"Yeah, no way. You two are insufferable enough as it is," Sapnap grumbles. "If you two become legally bound to each other I'm gonna have to pull a Tommy and get married out of rage."

"Well if Dream turns me down I _guess_ I could marry you, but you'll have to sleep on the floor. You're super gross." George opens up the furnace and swaps out the iron ore for some raw chicken, adding another few pieces of coal for good measure. 

"You shower, like, once a month George, you have no room to talk." Sapnap shoots back.

Dream's finally stopped dying in the background; George can hear him let out one final shuddering wheeze before he eventually speaks up. "Aw, Georgie, does that mean you'll share a bed with _me?_ "

It's _George's_ turn to stammer, now, and unlike Dream he has a facecam to worry about. He bites his lip and does his best to ignore Dream's self-satisfied giggling. "Um, maybe. As long as you aren't too annoying. But if you leave me to the seagulls I'm disowning you."

"Don't worry, I'll protect you from the terrifying sky rats." Dream says, voice trembling as he forces down a laugh. Sapnap pipes up in agreement in the background, saying something about how he'll turn the seagulls into hats; George decides to ignore him, a decision that's never failed him before. "I'll carry you in my arms like a child, you won't even-"

A dono shows up on screen, interrupting George's thoughts before they can become too fixated on the idea of Dream carrying him, and he gratefully turns his attention to it. "'I've been enjoying watching you guys building the house, even though Dream's the one who's been doing all the work.' Well, I don't know about that, he literally just showed up. 'Can you all say hi to Lexi? Also George have you seen Dream's face yet?' Hi Lexi. Um, hold on a second."

George takes the iron and crafts the rest of his tools before dropping the extra into a chest. Sapnap and Dream chime in with their own greetings--Dream still seems to be slightly petulant about being interrupted, that idiot--and George tries to refocus on the last part of the donation.

"Have I seen Dream's face yet? Um. . ." He shoots a hesitant glance at the webcam but no messages from Dream pop up in his Discord so he assumes he's free to answer this however he wants. "Technically no. I know what he looks like but I haven't video called him or anything."

"What do you mean?" Dream squawks, sounding genuinely offended. George can hear rustling before the sound of him typing away on his phone filters through his mic. "You've seen my face before, I know you have. I've sent pics to you!"

"That's why I said _technically_. You've given me shitty- I mean, low-quality pictures of yourself, sure, but no real ones. None that really show your face." George says. "Besides, pics aren't the same as a video call or whatever."

"Do you actually want a pic? Because I can figure out how to get one for you, if you're being serious." Dream says, voice low and sincere but also scarily hesitant. George knows him well enough to see that he's one step away from dropping into the shakey tone he always gets when he's nervous; Sapnap must pick up on it too, because he starts humming quietly in the background, which is a subtle declaration of support on his part.

There's something so special about having people that can read you like an open book and can comfort you without needing to say a word. Every day George is blown away by how incredibly _lucky_ he is to have these two as his friends. He wouldn't trade them for the world, and he'd do _anything_ to keep them happy and comfortable. Even if that means giving up on things that he wants for himself.

He's not going to be selfish, not going to force Dream into an uncomfortable position to satisfy his own curiosity, _especially_ not on stream. He's going to see Dream soon enough; he can wait a little longer.

George immediately backpedals, forcing out a chuckle as he leans back in his chair. His fingers twitch with the need to send reassurances to Dream, but he forces that urge down. _It can wait until the stream ends._ "Nah, don't worry about it. I'd rather just wait until we meet in person. Besides, I don't particularly trust you to send me a pic that isn't just you meming around."

Dream barks out a laugh, drumming his fingers against his desk; he's still somewhat subdued, but George thinks he gets that he was just joking around earlier. 

Sapnap lets out a snicker. "I don't think he has a single picture of himself on his camera roll, dude. It's all just Patches. Every day, I wake up and _boom_ , new Patches pic in my DMs."

"Patches supremacy!" George shouts, before reading through the chat and letting out a groan. "Yep, now the chat's spamming it. Thanks, Sapnap."

"Hey, you're the one who said it!" Sapnap clears his throat. "So if you're marrying me now, can you fly to Texas instead? My place is _way_ cooler than Dream's."

"No, then you won't get to meet Patches!" Dream whines. " _George_ , you have to go to Florida. You guys will stay at _my_ house and I'll show you all the cool secret non-touristy spots. There's a really good ice cream place, like, ten minutes down the road. It'll be fun!"

"Florida's _gross_ , man. It's hot and wet and makes my skin feel like it's coming off. At least Texas is a dry heat. If I go to Florida I'll just nap all day like George does, it won't be any fun. Plus, Dream's a nightmare in the water." Sapnap grumbles, voice lacking any real bite. "He made me go to the beach in March. In _March_ , George! And he tried to drown me!"

"Oh, quit complaining, Sapnap. Dream shows his love by murdering us, that's just how it works." George checks for any new donos, but the chat seems content to just listen to them joke around. "Anyways, it's _my_ meetup, which means _I_ get to decide whose house I go to. And right now Sapnap's sounding a lot more convincing. Sorry, Dream, but I don't think you'll be able to get me to come over."

Dream chuckles; George can hear him typing on his phone again. "Wanna bet?"

_Oh god._ George knows _that_ tone, because it's the one Dream always uses before he does something stupid. _He's up to something._

Sure enough, George's phone buzzes several times in quick succession. He's kinda scared to look, so he chooses to ignore it, but Dream pipes up with a groan loud enough to startle him. " _George_ , open your DMs."

"I'd rather not," George mutters, forcing down a smile as he tries to focus on sorting through his chests. "I'm kinda busy. Look at my stream, can't you see I'm in the middle of something?"

"I _am_ looking at your stream, George. Just open it, open it." Dream's voice drops, going soft and pleading. George's skin prickles. " _Please?_ "

George rolls his eyes, hoping that none of his discomfort shows as he pauses the game. He can hear Sapnap laughing in the background. "Fine, fine. This better be worth it, Dream, I swear to-"

He glances down at his phone, then drops it with a shriek. Dream starts cackling as George scrambles to flip his phone over to make sure the chat can't see. "Holy sh- _Dream!_ "

Dream's laughter rises in pitch. "Your _face!_ Oh my god. 

George sputters. "Is that _you?_ What were you _wearing?_ I don't- what?"

"Maybe, maybe not." Dream sing-songs, leaning closer to the mic. George leans away in response before he can stop himself. "Why don't you look again and find out?"

George reaches for his phone, hesitating before he turns it back over. He's certain he's blushing. "You're such an idiot."

"You're acting like I sent you something horribly inappropriate, George, calm down." Dream's voice is still shaky with laughter. "Chat, chill, it's just a dumb picture." 

"It is inappropriate," George mutters, staring down at the pic, because it feels _wrong_ to look at, somehow. It's just Dream at the beach, wearing the ugliest swimming trunks George has ever seen and pulling a frankly embarrassing pose. The top half of his face is cropped out; it's clearly not intentional, just a side effect of Dream moving while the picture was being taken. His skin is tanned, not burned like George's would be, and it shines in the bright sunlight. 

He's shirtless. George has never seen Dream shirtless.

George swallows, putting his phone down a bit harder than he means to. His chat is spamming _feet pics?_ and seems both slightly freaked out and very much intrigued.

"Don't worry, guys, it's not that." George chuckles, rubbing at his face with the heel of his palm as he tries to focus back on Minecraft. He shouldn't be this frazzled, he's seen more incriminating pictures of both Dream and Sapnap before. "Just took me by surprise. I've never _seen_ clothes that color, what were they supposed to be?"

Dream giggles; George misclicks and has to replace his torch. "Chartreuse, supposedly; I wanted it to match my Minecraft skin, but it ended up being several shades brighter. I didn't even know that was _possible_. It was a toss-up between that or bastard-amber colored swim trunks."

"Oh my god, I cannot believe you." George buries his face in his hands. Sapnap is howling with laughter, shouting something along the lines of _'bastard-amber, that can't actually be a real color.'_ George can hardly hear himself think over the noise. "Wait, does that mean this was a recent pic, then?"

"Yeah, I guess? Within the past year." Dream's humming, typing away at something on his computer. "It doesn't really matter. Anyways, did that convince you?"

"What? Why would that convince me?" George asks, brow furrowing. He shoots another glance down at his phone, frowning when he realizes the screen has already turned back off. He kinda wants to look at the picture again. "It's just a picture of you being an idiot on a beach?"

"Don't you wanna see that outfit in person? I still have those swim trunks; I'd wear them for you, if you asked. We can be idiots on the beach together." Dream says, ignoring Sapnap hissing violent protests in the background.

George sputters, closing his game. _It's about time to end the stream anyways, might as well wrap it up here._ "Oh my- I can't believe you. Why would I want to see those in person? They hurt my eyes enough already even just looking at them through the screen. Now be quiet so I can wrap up the stream, guys."

"See, Dream? George just likes me better." Sapnap says, voice smug. Dream immediately launches into an argument and they start bickering with each other; George tunes them out as he says goodbye to his chat.

He does turn his phone back on and save the picture to his camera roll, after a moment's hesitation. _Might as well get as much blackmail on him as I can,_ he thinks, wishing it didn't feel like an excuse.

"Guys, guys. Stream's over. We aren't just meming around about the trip, right?" George asks, interrupting Sapnap as he curses Dream out in exaggerated gamer slang. Whatever bit they have going on, George wants no part of it. "We're actually gonna do it?"

"Hell yeah we are!" Sapnap shouts, loud enough to make his mic crackle. "End of June, right? That was the plan?"

"Sometime in June, yeah. You guys _are_ coming to Florida, though, so don't try and argue. There's no getting out of it." Dream teases, chair creaking as he leans back.

"Okay, I'm fine with that. Besides, Sapnap probably wouldn't trust us to stay in his house without breaking something important." George pauses, hesitantly steering the conversation a different direction while trying to keep his voice light. "Dream? I'm sorry. About the face reveal stuff and all that. I shouldn't have brought it up on stream."

"I don't care, it's fine. It's stupid, anyways, I really should've done it by now." Dream mumbles. "I just. . .I don't like taking pictures of myself. If you really want to I can always video call you, I can do that."

"No, Dream, it's not a big deal. I'm serious; I can wait until we meet in person. I'll live." And George _does_ get it, sorta. He's guessing it's similar to how Bad feels about facecams, although to a much greater extent; Bad rarely uses one for a lot of reasons, sure, but the main one is just that it's always stressful for him to stream with one on, even when he uses a filter. Dream's probably just the same way.

Dream's fidgeting with something, loud enough for his mic to pick it up. From the sound of it, it's probably a pencil. "Just know that it's not you, okay? Sapnap's literally one of the only people who's seen it, and that was originally because of an accidental video call. Even Bad hasn't seen more than you have. It's a problem I have, but it's got nothing to do with you."

George sighs, opening up his latest project as he forces out a quiet laugh. "You being camera shy isn't a problem, Dream, don't worry about it. If you wanna send me stuff, that's great, but you don't have to. Just so long as you aren't, like, video calling Sapnap every day it's fine."

"Aw, Gogy, would you be jealous?" George sputters, opening his mouth to curse Sapnap out, but the younger man hurries to continue. "Nah, I think we've only done that, like, twice this year. I could always be your middleman if that would help with the stress of sending pics?"

"It would," Dream murmurs. "But if George is fine with waiting, then I'd rather just not do it. Thank you, George. I really appreciate it."

"Of course." George runs a quick test of his code and fights the urge to groan when no less than three major error messages pop up. His earlier cheer is quickly morphing into dread. "Guys, I'm never gonna get this plugin finished in time."

"Your upload schedule isn't strict or anything, so don't stress too hard over a deadline you've made up for yourself. Wanna send it over so we can take a look at it?" Sapnap offers, jokey tone slipping away.

A strong sense of guilt settles in George's chest and he shakes his head, forcing himself to keep typing even as a tremor runs through his arms. "Nah, I just need to power through it. Thanks, though. Bye."

It takes him nearly two hours just to get those big issues taken care of, and that still leaves a series of smaller syntax errors that he needs to scroll through and individually select so he can import the fixed versions from the new directory. He's going to have to pull another all-nighter to get this finished.

His throat tightens at the thought, but he pushes on. He has to get this done. He _has_ to.

He doesn't notice how Dream's icon reads _Online_ in bright green text the entire time he's working, and he doesn't see how it only fades to grey once he manually switches his own status to _Offline_.

He _does_ notice how his thoughts keep drifting back to the picture Dream had sent him. It shouldn't be stuck in his mind, but it _is_ , and there's nothing he can do about it.

George is starting to wonder if this is going to be a problem, whatever _this_ is, but he doesn't have time to deal with it right now so he just shoves those thoughts back down and tries to focus on his work.

He has too much going on right now; he can't deal with another issue. He just _can't_. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Me, adding in Dream angst even though that wasn't in the script: yeah we're feeling wild and crazy in these word docs tonight
> 
> There are a couple of parts here I'm not satisfied with but overall I'm happy with this chapter! Happy chapters are fun right? They're just chatting, nothing to worry about :) at all :) George is doing just fine, like I said :)
> 
> I love throwing in little foreshadowing things even if I don't expect people to pick up on all of them. I've already established several patterns in these early chapters and I'm curious to see if people will notice them, especially once they start changing.
> 
> Reminder: these are characters based off Dream and George's personas; I'm not striving for 100% accuracy especially since leans into AU territory and takes place in the future. I am fairly certain that George has probably actually seen Dream's face, and even if he hasn't, he probably would have by this point in time. Hence me giving Dream anxiety in this fic over revealing his face as a reason for him not showing it to George yet. Is that the only reason? Who knows but that's certainly a large part of it.
> 
> Also: I am not trying to speculate over their sexuality. I have no intentions of doing so. I am just writing this for fun. Please do not bother ccs about their sexuality. Thanks <3


	5. i am not listening

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> He sits there in silence for a moment, just watching Dream's character sprint off with Niki in tow. If he closes his eyes, he can imagine Dream bursting out into strangled laughter as he messes up his own instructions, can almost picture the way Dream's brows must furrow whenever he concentrates on making a jump.
> 
> He wants to see Dream. 
> 
> .
> 
> George is lonely.
> 
> Things have to crack before they can break.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Content warnings: mild accidental self-harm, anxiety attack
> 
> Hello! I know it has been a while, sorry about that <3 there's been a lot going on but I should be back for good now! I plan to update weekly but I can't guarantee anything, sorry.
> 
> Some notes! I outlined this fic series in mid-November, and I even wrote some scenes for this fic and the sequel that same day. This means it's not exactly going to be "canon" compliant since things change much faster than I write. For example, Sapnap and Dream moving in together. In an earlier chapter I mentioned Sapnap and Dream having met up in person (totally predicted their meetup lol), and I decided that them moving in together is still gonna be canon in this fic! But Sapnap moved back out after two months. He's planning to move back in with Dream in the summer when George visits in June. Currently the fic is in late April.

> **Dream** : _Hey :)  
> _ **Dream** : _Practice for MCC at 2 your time?_  
>  **Dream** : _Wilbur and Niki will be there too_
> 
> **George** : _Sounds good see you then!_
> 
> **Dream** : _< 3_  
>  **Dream** : _George I can't believe you didn't send me one back_  
>  **Dream** : _Did you forget?_
> 
> **George** : _Didnt feel like it :P_  
>  **George** : _You have to earn it_
> 
> **Dream** : _Jerk_
> 
> **George** : _You love it_
> 
> **Dream** : _You know I do ;)_
> 
> **George** : _You idiot_  
>  **George** : _Shut up_
> 
> **Dream** : _:):) Make me_
> 
> **George** : _Deram!_  
>  **George** : _shit *Dream_
> 
> **Dream** : _lol_
> 
> **George** : _Are you trying to convince me not to play with you? Because it's working_
> 
> **Dream** : _No it's not you find me endearing_
> 
> **George** : _You wish_  
>  **George** : _See you then!_
> 
> **Dream** : _Bye! <3_

* * *

When George joined the voice call fifteen minutes early, he was surprised to find Wilbur already there. He decided not to interrupt and just listened quietly as he joined the server.

". . .you probably won't slip off that way." Dream was saying, fingers tapping against the keyboard aggressively as he spoke. "Like this, see? I think you're just pressing shift a second too late. It's a common mistake; people get scared of pressing it too early and dropping, so they wait too long."

Wilbur lets out a hum. "That makes sense. So earlier on the trapdoors, later on the weaving jumps, got it. Hi, George. You logging on or just sticking with the VC for now?"

"George, hi! Sorry about that. You're a bit early, I wasn't keeping an eye out for you yet. Here, let me send you the IP real quick." George's Discord pings; he quickly copies the address over to his Minecraft and joins the server. "New one since they changed up the map again."

"Okay, sounds good." He joins the server, grinning at the sight of Dream's bright piss-colored skin sprinting around. Wilbur starts spamming shift so he looks like he's twerking at George, who punches him away with a laugh. "What are you doing? Stop it."

"Gogy!" Wilbur shouts, sounding like he's pressing his face against the microphone. George winces at the volume and distortion. " _Gogyyyy_. Are you ready to Minecraft?"

"Why do you think I'm here?" George rolls his eyes, dodging around Wilbur so he can follow Dream's character around the course. When Dream slips up and respawns, he comes over and crouches in front of George. "Of course I'm ready."

"Great! So Wilbur and I got here early to practice a few jumps; when Niki gets here, I'm gonna walk her through them as well." Dream explains, punching at the air as he speaks. "Why don't you two work on Rocket Spleef? Since they added a few adjustments. We can all join together at the end and practice some PvP."

The Discord announces a new player joining the channel; Niki pipes up with a hello that they all quickly echo. While Dream explains the plan to her, George switches to the other voice channel.

He sits there in silence for a moment, just watching Dream's character sprint off with Niki in tow. If he closes his eyes, he can imagine Dream bursting out into strangled laughter as he messes up his own instructions, can almost picture the way Dream's brows must furrow whenever he concentrates on making a jump.

He wants to see Dream. Wants to sit in the same room with him and make faces to distract him as he tries to speedrun. Wants to tease him whenever his odds are lucky and actually see how Dream forces down a smile instead of just hearing it in his voice. Wants to sit next to him as they study a line of code together, Dream putting an arm around George's shoulders, pulling him close-

"George?"

George blinks, glancing over to his second monitor on instinct, but his facecam is off. He can see how _wide_ his eyes are in his reflection. He swallows. "Yeah?"

His voice was shaky when he answered; Wilbur doesn't comment on it, but there's no way he doesn't notice. "You ready? The Spleef arena's this way, c'mon."

George follows Wilbur's character across the map, idly chewing on his hoodie sleeve as he steers with one hand. His brain keeps drifting back to his previous train of thought; he does his best to forcefully grab those ideas and shove them down. They just- it doesn't feel _right_. 

Rocket Spleef goes about as well as expected. The new adjustments don't actually change very much; if anything, they just make the game less buggy and a bit easier. Wilbur still manages to glitch himself into a block, though, and spends several minutes laughing his ass off until George finally switches to creative mode and punches him out of it.

"George!" Wilbur complains, trying to shoot him as they glide around the arena. "How could you, that was a perfectly valid method of winning the game! It's not cheating! Why do you think they named it after me? Because I'm so good at this game!"

"You really aren't." George manages to knock Wilbur off the first level; he struggles to catch himself and ends up gliding down several levels before he manages to slow his fall. George glides in circles above him, waiting for an opening. 

Wilbur shoots up at George, pushing him back a bit, but it doesn't do _nearly_ as much knockback as it's supposed to. George realizes that he hasn't switched back out of gamemode yet; instead of going back into survival, he decides to have a bit of fun and swoops down, punching Wilbur to death since the other player can't hurt him.

"George!" The sound of Wilbur typing away at his keyboard is _loud_ through his microphone. George is honestly surprised that he hasn't hit his desk in rage yet, that's how much he's shouting. "How could you, you fucking cheated I know you did-"

He glides over and lands in front of George, punching at him and screaming another curse when George takes no damage. He sounds like he's _barely_ holding back laughter and George hurriedly covers his mouth with a hand as he tries to force his own chuckles down.

"We're supposed to be taking this _seriously,_ " Wilbur grumbles; George can hear him dramatically flopping back into his chair. _One of these days he's gonna break that thing._ "But _no,_ you decided to cheat-"

George pushes him off the ledge, breaking out into full-on laughter as Wilbur's character falls to the ground. "Excuse me, _you're_ the one who cheated first. It's not _my_ fault I had to take action."

"Oh yes, yes, I see." Wilbur clears his throat, then suddenly pitches his voice several octaves higher in a _very_ poor imitation of George's voice. "'Hi, it's me, GeorgeNotFound! And I bloody well can't win on my own without cheating!'"

"Oh my god." George scrubs a hand down his face, letting out a sigh. He seriously considers leaving the Discord before realizing that he'd have to explain to Dream _why_ he left, and he's pretty sure that _Wilbur was mocking me and being annoying_ wouldn't be a valid enough reason. If anything, it would just make Dream laugh at him. 

Wilbur's voice breaks as he starts to laugh; it sounds almost painful as he forces his voice back to that obnoxiously high pitch. "'And I can't see the color green and I use my face to get subs. The world is _piss!_ My winstreak is long because my-'"

George is _literally_ going to kill him. He jumps right into the fray, dropping his voice low and trying to mimic Wilbur, but he's completely ignored as Wilbur continues to speak over him so eventually he just buries his face in his hands and does his best to block Wilbur's voice out.

Yes, George is willing to admit that it's a _bit_ funny. But he's running on practically no sleep right now and he'd really just like to get on with things so he can return to editing. He also has that plugin he needs to finish coding; his late night didn't end up fixing that problem, and he'd honestly consider abandoning the project altogether if he hadn't _promised_ to finish it for them-

"'. . .thing is that my green Minecraft boyfriend gives me op so I can always win and impress him. And then all my simps will be proud of my victory because my name is Gogy and I have many simps including Mister DreamWasTaken, my Minecraft boyfriend.'"

_Hold on, what the hell did Wilbur just say?_

George startles so badly when Wilbur mentions Dream that his hand slips and he accidentally bites his thumb _hard_ instead of nibbling on it like he'd been doing a second ago. A bead of blood wells up and he mutters a curse, shaking his hand out before just wiping it off on his jeans. 

Wilbur is _still_ going on about him; George reaches for his keyboard and types "/kill WilburSoot" into the chat without a second thought. The betrayed shout from Wilbur makes it more than worth the confused question marks sent in response by Niki and Dream.

Wilbur is cackling, sounding so proud of himself for managing to annoy George. He's finally stopped talking in that voice specifically, but he's not _stopping_. "Don't worry, Gogy, I'm still your main simp. I'll fight Dream Minecraft for that spot. You're my hero even though you cheated. You-"

George smacks his hands against his desk, forces himself to keep his voice low even though he wants to yell, wants to spit up the coiled bundle of stress in his gut and let it escape through his words. "Wilbur, you- just _stop_. Just _quit it_." 

Wilbur goes completely silent.

George could taste the venom in his voice, knows he can't play his hissed words off as a joke. He sucks in a shaky breath and hurries to stammer an apology, but Wilbur cuts him off.

"It's okay to take a break, you know."

George blinks, taken aback. He was expecting Wilbur to snap back at him, or get upset somehow, not. . .whatever the hell this is. "Huh?"

"If you're working too long, you're just gonna burn yourself out. It's okay to take a break, George." Wilbur repeats. "That happened to me with the DreamSMP, you know? I took a step back from writing the script so that I could focus on my own stuff without working myself into the ground. I felt like I had done what I needed to do and I was ready to move on."

There's still a bit of blood smeared on his hand, even though the wound itself has probably already sealed over. George tugs on his hoodie sleeve until he's able to hide it from sight.

"What exactly are you saying?" George eventually mumbles. He thinks he should probably be mad that Wilbur's getting involved. He's too exhausted to care. "That I need to take a break? From what, working? That's not an option."

Wilbur sighs. George can't tell if he sounds disappointed or just tired. "I'm just saying that you _could,_ not that you _should_. It's always an option. If you need to take a step back, ease up on the collaborative content you've been doing? No one's gonna be upset. You've been doing a _lot_ of extra projects with everyone recently, and that's great-"

The Discord channel sounds an alert as two new people join the call. Niki starts speaking the second she's loaded in. "Hey guys! We're done with our jumps, so if you're ready we can start working on PvP!"

Dream chuckles; George's fingers twitch. He's not sure _why_. "Seems like you two finished before we did, though, since you were switching gamemodes and slash-killing each other. Not too much trouble adjusting to the new changes, then?"

Wilbur speaks up when George doesn't say anything. "Hey, that was all George, not me! I don't have access to those commands on this server! But yeah, the changes weren't that noticeable. It was really only the modified gliding mechanics that messed us up, but even that wasn't too big of a deal."

"That's great!" Niki says, voice choked up with giggles. Dream teleports them all over to the PvP arena and starts dropping gear for them. George doesn't make any moves to pick his up yet. "I beat Dream in one of the races!"

"No she _didn't!_ " Dream laughs, tapering off into a wheeze as he struggles to regain his breath. "She didn't, I just- I fucking _fell_. That doesn't count."

Wilbur and Niki start playfully arguing with him, and Dream tries to defend his honor but seems to realize that it's a losing battle because he challenges Niki to another race. That sparks a whole debate over the rules and soon they're all sprinting around and punching at each other as they shout.

George tunes them out, lets himself drift.

_It's okay to take a break, you know._

He tugs on his hoodie sleeve with his teeth. What exactly was Wilbur suggesting, that he should just. . .stop making content for a while? _I can't do that, it's my job, there's no way I can just randomly take a break. Besides, it's not like I have a good reason to. I'm busy but I'm fine. I just need to push through these next couple of weeks, finish up these projects._

_Maybe there's a balance? Maybe I can ease up on streaming and collaborations. Just for a few weeks, at least. Until things slow down again. That way I'm not completely burning myself out._

"-George, you still there?"

George flinches, turning his focus back to the game. Dream's brightly colored character is hovering in the center of his screen, staring at him. He looks away even though it's not like Dream can actually _see_ him. "Hmm, yeah?"

He's certain his voice sounds raw, fragile. Dream seems to hesitate. "You ready to keep going?"

George wonders what Dream's face looks like right now. His whole body _aches_ with the thought and he hurries to shove it away.

_WilburSoot whispers to you: we should finish talking. stay in vc after?_

He thinks Dream's hands would be warm.

It's suddenly all too much.

"Guys," George blurts out, cutting Dream off. "Actually, um- I have to go. I need to get back to work."

"Wait, really?" Dream asks, sounding startled; no, worse than that, sounding _concerned_. "Are you sure? I thought now was a good time. . ."

"Sorry, I just wasn't able to get enough work done last night. Stupid code and all that." There's a buzzing in his fingertips. "And I think I'm probably good with PvP for now, we practice it quite a lot. I'll see you all another day, okay? Message me when you pick the next practice time."

George disconnects from the server, then starts to tug his headphones off. Dream's asking a bunch of questions, his voice fast and anxious. George hurries to reassure him. "I know this is abrupt, sorry, I just- I completely forgot. But I _really_ need to get this done. Just fill me in on what I missed when we chat tonight, okay?"

Dream goes quiet, then lets out what sounds like a relieved sigh. "Yeah, sure, see you tonight. Don't sleep through my call this time, George, and make sure to get some good snacks. Sound good?"

"That works." George shouldn't be feeling anxious about something they do literally every night. _What is wrong with me?_ "Bye everyone, see you next time."

Wilbur and Niki both shout goodbyes. Dream calls out a "love you, George" as George exits the Discord and switches his status to Offline. 

He feels numb. He's _shaking_. He pushes away from his desk and paces around the room, sucking in deep breaths and shaking his hands out until most of the nervous energy has faded. It takes more than ten minutes.

His chest still feels tight. He wants to be _held;_ at this point, he doesn't care by who, but his mind keeps drifting to Dream anyways. His skin burns wherever he imagines Dream touching him.

_So fucking pathetic, daydreaming about HUGS. What is going on with me?_

George swaps out his hoodie for a larger one, buries his nose in it and imagines Dream's scent and _warmth_. Pretends it's Dream wrapping him up in a hug and holding him close as he slides under his blankets. 

_Living alone is still new to me, I'm just lonely. It's because of the stress. It's because I'm tired._

It's better than nothing, but it's not enough.

It takes him a long time to stop trembling.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wilbur and George have such chaotic energy when they play together, have you seen the chess stream? Cracks me up. Also, sorry for anyone who was hoping that Niki would have a major part in this chapter, it just wasn't working out :( Her practice with Dream went well though and she totally _did_ win against him. 
> 
> If people would rather me put the content warnings in the end notes for future chapters, I can do that. I can also expand on content warnings in more detail in the end notes if that would be helpful for people (example: the self-harm warning for this chapter refers to George biting his finger when chewing on it and accidentally making himself bleed.)
> 
> I've had this fic series planned and outlined for a while. Even if my updates slow down, I will continue to work on it. Unless I specifically say otherwise, I haven't abandoned it. There are planned to be three fics in this series, plus a bonus short in Dream and Sapnap's POVs that will probably be uploaded between chapters 11 and 12. The second fic is going to focus on the Florida meetup, and the third fic will take place after that. This fic is tagged as pre-slash for a reason lol it'll take some time.
> 
> Love you guys! Thank you so much for your lovely comments <3 stay safe!


	6. tic toc

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "Don't worry, it's easy!" Dream drums his fingertips on the table and George rolls his eyes when Sapnap joins in, turning it into a dramatic and _very_ out-of-sync drumroll. "I just want a kiss! On the cheek!"
> 
> Normally, this would be George's cue to scoff and punch Dream. Normally, George would poke fun at him before moving on and forgetting about it five minutes later.
> 
> This time, something tight and almost certainly unpleasant curls in George's gut.
> 
> .
> 
> Confusion often leads to dissonance.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Uploading this chapter a tiny bit ahead of schedule because I figured I owed it to you guys after that earlier hiatus <3 The start of this chapter is actually the first scene I wrote out for this fic, way back at the start of November! I think I wrote out three scenes that day. The plan for this fic has changed a bit since then but all three of those scenes will still be in it in some shape or form! This one's probably the one that ended up changing the least.

George has learned that the only thing worse than Sapnap killing him and taking his stuff is _Dream_ killing him and taking his stuff. At least with Sapnap, he has a chance of killing him in return or getting Dream on his side. But when Dream's got a hold of George's stuff? It's usually a matter of waiting until he gets bored. 

Right now, Dream seems to be getting _plenty_ of amusement from knocking George off the roof of their house every time he manages to tower up. The pile of items hovers tauntingly near the edge, and he's certain he can reach them if he just manages to get a _bit_ closer next time-

Dream wheezes. "C'mon, George, just grab your stuff! Reach up here with your short little arms!"

"Oh my _god,_ Dream, just give me my stuff back!" George bites out, tapping the spacebar as he tries to jump up to the pile of stuff. Every time he manages to grab something, Dream just punches him back off the edge. "It's gonna despawn! Dream!"

Sapnap pearls onto the roof and tries to grab George's stuff--whether to steal it for himself or because he's actually trying to help out, George isn't quite sure--but Dream shoots him until he's forced to retreat with a muttered curse.

Dream's character's head is twitching; he must be laughing so hard that he's moving his mouse. George thinks he can hear little intakes of breath between each word as Dream tries to calm himself. "Okay, okay, fine. I'll let you climb up here on one condition."

George sighs. "What's that gonna be, Dream? You want me to name my sword after you for real this time, without a typo? Because that's never going to happen."

"Yeah, Draem supremacy!" Sapnap shouts, spamming shift in a little dance as he inches closer again. "It's too funny, you can't make him change that."

Dream giggles, actually _giggles,_ and George feels something in his brain short-circuit. _What the hell was that._ "No, I won't make you do that. I want you to give me something!"

 _Oh boy._ "I can't give you anything if you have all my stuff." George says, before making one last attempt to tower up. Dream must be watching his stream because he easily finds him and knocks him back down. "Come on!"

"Don't worry, it's easy!" Dream drums his fingertips on the table and George rolls his eyes when Sapnap joins in, turning it into a dramatic and _very_ out-of-sync drumroll. "I just want a kiss! On the cheek!"

Normally, this would be George's cue to scoff and punch Dream. Normally, George would poke fun at him before moving on and forgetting about it five minutes later.

This time, something tight and almost certainly unpleasant curls in George's gut.

It takes him a good few seconds to remember that this is _Minecraft_ they're talking about, and that Dream's referring to their jokey webcam kisses and not asking for an _actual_ one. It takes him even longer to redirect his thoughts back onto the right track.

"What?" He breathes out, before blinking and shaking his head. "Ah, I mean no, Dream, of course not. Don't be ridiculous."

"Oh come _on,_ George, just a little one. A teeny tiny kiss. You can do it on the nipples if that would make you feel better about it." Dream's character shifts, peeking down at George, who's standing frozen on the ground. "George? Are you lagged out?"

Sapnap drops down beside George and hits him with an axe; George immediately starts punching back but dies pretty quickly. He buries his face in his hands and groans, not even bothering to click the respawn button. "Guys, seriously, we need to finish this house. Chat, yell at Dream to give me my stuff back."

"I'll help you, George! Then you only have to give _me_ a wittle kissie." Sapnap cackles, towering up to Dream and picking up the stuff before he can be stopped. "I got Draem! I got it!"

"Get over here, Sapnap!" Dream shrieks, chasing after him. George spawns back in and follows at a distance, watching as Dream corners Sapnap before killing him and taking the stuff back.

"You f- Dream!" Sapnap shouts; George can hear a thump as he smacks his desk. "Now we're never gonna get our stuff!"

Dream crouches and inches towards George, who hurries to dig himself into a hole. "Dream, leave me alone!"

"I'm not gonna kill you, I'll give your stuff back!" George hears some items being dropped and he towers back up just in time to grab his armor before Dream can pick it back up. "Do you want the rest of it or not? Because I'll need that kiss."

"Webcam kisses from George?" Sapnap shouts, typing away at his keyboard; he appears right next to Dream, who hurries to punch him away while yelling at him for cheating. "I call first dibs!"

"No, you don't have anything to give him! I have all of his stuff!" Dream laughs and Sapnap makes exaggerated kissy noises into his mic. "You can kiss me for your stuff, though."

Sapnap crouches and moves forward, kissing Dream's character right on the belly button. Dream wheezes and tosses him his stuff before turning back to George. "Your turn!"

"What? No way." George crosses his arms and looks away; he doesn't feel like playing along with Dream's shenanigans today. For some reason, the chat spamming _kiss Dream!_ is making him feel more uncomfortable than usual. "This isn't funny."

"You're right, it's not, so just _kiss_ me already," Dream whines, clicking his mouse before barking out a laugh. "Oh my god, you're so _red,_ George! Look at his stream, Sapnap!"

George wants to hide his face, because it's not fair that Dream gets to look at him and not the other way around. Dream gets to see him all uncomfortable and shit but George doesn't get to see his best friend laugh at stupid jokes or smirk as he teases them. "Dream!"

"Okay, okay. It doesn't have to be a webcam kiss." Dream's character moves forward, and George panics.

He closes the game before he can think about it.

"What? George!" Dream and Sapnap both shout, their voices overlapping, but all George can hear is Dream. A strange, almost giddy noise bubbles up in his throat and he hurriedly mutes himself and buries his face in his arms before it can escape. _What the fuck?_

"Did your game crash?" Sapnap asks, his voice tinged with concern. George can barely hear him over the ringing in his ears. _What is happening to me?_ "Dude, why are you muted? Did your internet die? Hello?"

"His stream's still up." Dream murmurs. "There's just a bit of delay. . .no, he quit the game. George? Can you hear us?"

It takes George a second to realize that they can see his facecam right now, and probably hear themselves on stream too; the second he does, he jolts and hurries to unmute himself. _Shit._ "Oh, um, yeah. I can."

"Where did you go?" Sapnap shouts, loud enough to make George wince. "Don't tell me we made you rage-quit."

There's a moment of silence before Dream pipes up, his voice oddly. . .soft. Fragile. "You good, George? We can stop, if you want."

George has no idea if he's talking about the teasing or the stream; he's not sure which one he's hoping for.

"Um, no, we're fine." George manages to force out. His throat is tight, and there's a tension in his shoulders that he doesn't understand. He feels _sick._ "Just give me my stuff back so we can get on with this."

He half-expects Dream to continue pushing for a kiss, but he doesn't. In fact, he's oddly quiet for the whole rest of the stream, only speaking up in response to donos and a few of Sapnap's stupid jokes.

At one point, a message pops up on George's second monitor, where the chat can't see it. It's from Dream.

> **Dream** : _you okay?_

George ignores it. As soon as the stream finishes, he disconnects from the Discord before either of his friends can say anything, then hurriedly retreats to chug a glass of water and get away from his computer. His phone immediately starts buzzing in his pocket, but he tunes it out until he's downed two more glasses of water and feels like he can actually speak without his throat clogging up.

When he finally pulls his phone out of his pocket, he finds a handful of messages from Sapnap and Dream as well as a missed phone call from Dream. George hesitates for a moment, finger hovering over the _Return Call_ button, before changing his mind at the last second and opening Sapnap's Discord instead.

> **Sapnap** : _um hello???_  
>  **Sapnap** : _u good dude you just fucking vanished on us?_
> 
> **Sapnap** : _George?_
> 
> **Sapnap** : _okay for real get back on here_
> 
> **George** : _I was just getting some water calm down_
> 
> **Sapnap** : _long ass water break_  
>  **Sapnap** : _what'd you leave the call for?_
> 
> **George** : _Water obviously_
> 
> **Sapnap** : _stfu you know what i mean why didnt you just mute_  
>  **Sapnap** : _you know what idc just get back in here_
> 
> **George** : _Fine fine holy shit, why's it such a big deal?_
> 
> **Sapnap** : _it's not??? you just never disappear like that is all_

George sits back down at his computer, idly picking at his bandaged finger as he waits for Discord to reboot. He rejoins the voice call to Dream speaking with Sapnap in a quiet clipped tone, too quickly for George to pick out more than a few words. He and Sapnap both fall silent the second Discord announces George's reappearance.

"Um," George tugs at his shirt, then folds his hands in his lap to keep from messing with his cut again. "Well. Don't let me stop you. Didn't you want me to rejoin?"

"Yeah, yeah," Dream mutters; George can hear him typing. _Is he. . .is he messaging Sapnap privately? Or just working on something else?_ "Sapnap said you were getting water?"

George nods, then remembers he never switched his facecam back on. He decides to keep it that way. "Mhmm. What's going on?"

"Nothing?" Sapnap says, sounding confused; George looks at his second monitor and sees that Sapnap's brows are pinched together as he frowns at his screen. "Just making sure you were good, that's all. You just kinda disappeared there. You don't have to stick around if you're busy."

"I can stay in the call, I just needed to get something to drink. _Really_ not a big deal, don't know why you guys got so upset." George grumbles, pulling up Eclipse on his main screen so he can look over his code again. _Maybe I can share my screen with them, ask for some help?_

"We weren't _upset,_ dude, no need to get defensive." Dream's fingers seem to go still on his keyboard. George imagines he's probably squinting at his monitor. "Just a bit worried. But if you say it's not a big deal then I'm _sure_ it's not a big deal."

George frowns, feeling an icy chill start working its way down his spine. Dream sounds _bitter,_ surprisingly similar to how he used to speak when he had become sick and tired of the speedrunning drama. And unless George is mistaken, it's directed at _him_.

"Dream?" George asks, voice weak. He catches Sapnap's glare out of the corner of his eye but can't tell if it's aimed at him or Dream. _Probably Dream. Sapnap doesn't have a reason to be upset with me, right?_

_Wait, why would Dream be upset with me? Why is he mad? Probably because I ignored his messages, right? Or does he. . .did he figure out why I closed the game?_

_Why DID I close the game?_

Dream lets out a huff, drumming his fingers on his desk. His voice, when he does answer, is surprisingly calm. George almost wonders if he'd imagined the earlier frustration. "Sorry, just- nevermind. You were just acting kinda weird on stream today and, well. You sure you're okay?"

"Yeah, yeah. Just tired." George rubs at his eyes with the heel of his palm, fighting the urge to just bury his face in his arms and try to sleep. He hasn't gotten a full night's sleep since before the MCC practice last week; honestly, he'd be more surprised if they _didn't_ notice something was up. _Doesn't make me any more of a fan of them getting involved, though._

"Are you _sure?_ " Dream repeats, somehow managing to sound both hesitant and determined. "Because Sap and I've been-"

Sapnap hisses a hurried _shut up_ to Dream, and Dream stops talking so quickly that George can hear him jerk away from the microphone. It takes several seconds of heavy silence for George to realize what Dream was accidentally hinting at.

"What the hell," George growls, narrowing his eyes. He can see Sapnap look away from his facecam, guilt written all over his face, and he's pretty sure Dream must be doing the same thing. "What the _hell,_ really? You two have been talking about me behind my back?"

"George, it-" George smacks his palm against his desk to cut Sapnap off; Dream jumps in, telling George to calm down, and George quickly redirects his anger onto Dream. Sapnap looks torn between defending Dream and retreating from the conversation altogether.

"Don't tell me to _calm down,_ Dream, not when you guys are- are pulling this shit!" George shouts, body tensing as he debates just getting out of his chair and leaving the room entirely. "What have you been saying about me, talking about-"

"We've been talking about you because we've been, y'know, _worried_ about you." Sapnap says, voice sharp as he interrupts. "We haven't been saying mean shit or anything, you _know_ we wouldn't do that. We're just trying to figure out what's going on."

George crosses his arms, fingers tangling in his sleeve when he tugs on it. "Then fucking _ask_ me. Don't pull something like this."

"Okay, you know what, fine. George?" George blinks, gaze flitting over to Dream's Discord profile picture. His voice sounds carefully blank. "I'll ask. What's going on?"

George stiffens; the ice in his spine starts crawling towards his fingertips. "I. . .I don't know."

"And _that's_ why we stopped asking you." Dream doesn't seem at all surprised by George's answer. "Because every time we _have,_ you've just brushed us off. Which is fine, by the way; obviously you're allowed to keep things to yourself. But then you can't get upset at us for wondering what's going on and asking-"

"Well, I _don't_ know what's going on, okay?" George snaps, pushing down every stray thought of _maybe there is a specific thing that you're worried about_ because this is as close to the truth as he's going to get. "There's just so much, and I'm tired, and I haven't been sleeping and just- I don't _know._ "

His voice breaks on the last word. It rings out, the only other sound being Dream's distant panting breaths, nearly inaudible over the ringing in George's ears.

"You really don't?" Sapnap asks, voice faint. Dream falls silent.

George's shoulders hunch. "I really don't."

He hears Dream let out a shaky breath, voice quiet. "George-"

"Just," George swallows. "Just drop it, okay? It's not a big deal. I'm just stressed about, well, everything. I'll be fine in a few weeks."

"If it's hurting you, then it's a big deal." Sapnap murmurs, looking up to his camera. "And it clearly is. What can we do?"

"Yeah, what is it?" Dream blurts out; George can hear him fidgeting with something. "That's stressing you, I mean. Because we can probably help, you know. Is it your video? That coding project? MCC? Your collab-"

_All of the above and more._ George sighs. "I just need to crunch, okay? Push through it until after MCC. That's the main thing, probably, and there's not much that can be done about that."

"You're just gonna wear yourself down, man." Sapnap says. "You're uploading twice as much as either of us _and_ you stream much more often; even if you cut your work in half, you still won't really be behind. Trust me, you're doing more than enough. You can't keep saying 'just one more week' every week. "

"But I'm _not._ It's just until MCC. I'll take a step back after that. Okay?" George flips his camera on, makes eye contact with them through it. "Promise."

"We'll hold you to that," Dream warns, but his tone is much lighter now. "And don't worry about MCC, all right? I'll carry you, don't worry."

"Oh, fuck _off._ " Sapnap scoffs, rolling his eyes. "You're such a simp."

Dream lets out an offended shriek. "Am _not!_ "

George chuckles and lets the familiar sound of his best friends arguing distract him for the rest of the afternoon.

* * *

> **Sapnap** : _sirry about earlier_  
>  **Sapnap** : _but if there's something specific wrong you know you can always tell us, right?_
> 
> **George** : _I do I do_  
>  **George** : _It's really just a lot of things going on at once_  
>  **George** : _Nothing more than that_
> 
> **Sapnap** : _i'll take your word for it_  
>  **Sapnap** : _but for real_  
>  **Sapnap** : _always on your side_
> 
> **George** : _thank you_
> 
> **Sapnap** : _dont you forget it_

* * *

> **Dream** : _we're good right?_
> 
> **George** : _of course_  
>  **George** : _< 3_
> 
> **Dream** : _< 3_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Is George typoing Dream's name going to be a running joke in this fic? Apparently. That wasn't in the script but I'll roll with it lol
> 
> This chapter was basically "George experiences gay panic and has no idea what to do with it" and I love that
> 
> Sapnap is the best of friends I take no criticism <3
> 
> I love every comment so much and I appreciate all of the ones you folks have given me! I made this fic to share with people and I'm so happy that you guys are enjoying it so far :)


	7. sit and watch the hours go

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "Oh my god." George's neck feels warm. "Shut up, you know what I meant."
> 
> "You're the one who _said_ it." Dream chuckles. "Okay, okay, at least tell me I'm pretty."
> 
> George frowns. "You're insufferable."  
> .
> 
> No point in waiting for something that'll never happen on its own.
> 
> Sometimes you just have to be brave enough to take that first step.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wow this chapter is more than 1.5K words longer than the previous longest chapter holy shit
> 
> This chapter had the least detailed outline out of all of them and was mostly unplanned, which is maybe why it's the longest lol that and I was eager to write some fluff
> 
> I just have too much fun writing their conversations to stop

"So what are you in the mood for tonight?" George asks, idly scrolling through a list of movies on his phone. "I mean, we could try to find a new show. . ."

Dream chuckles; George can hear his blankets shift as he gets into bed. "Well, I'd _always_ be in the mood to watch a shitty romcom with you. But if you'd rather watch something else-"

"Of _course_ I'd rather watch something else." George lets out a huff, rolling his eyes at his phone camera. The light from the phone screen means that Dream can probably see his face okay even though there aren't any other lights on in the room. "Who would _want_ to watch another shitty romance movie? Oh wait, you would. Of course. How could I forget?"

"Oh, Georgie, are you jealous that I have romance on the brain?" Dream teases. "Don't worry, I won't forget you, I'm your main simp after all."

"Ew." George sticks his tongue out at the camera, then returns his focus to his phone. _Romance on the brain?_ "Stalker. Maybe I should block you."

"You wouldn't dare, because you'd be sad and lonely without m- _shit_. Patches!" George hears Dream's voice get muffled, and then a lot of rustling. He guesses Patches flopped down on top of Dream's face again.

George fights the urge to hide his smile. _That cat, she's nearly as clingy as Dream is._ "Aw, darling, did you hear me? You miss my voice and came over to say hello?"

"Pff, you kidding me? Your screams scare her off whenever we record together." Patches makes a displeased sound and Dream bursts into laughter. It sounds like he's struggling to breathe and it keeps getting cut off.

Dream's camera turns on.

The first thing George sees is Patches, staring at the phone--and his face--with wide eyes as she moves around. The second thing he sees is Dream's face.

Patches is sitting on his chest and flopped across his face, hiding part of it, but George can see enough. He can see how Dream's eyes are crinkled with joy, even though his grin is covered by Patches. His hair is messy, a bit tangled, longer than George had expected. He actually _does_ have freckles, visible even in the dim lighting.

_Dream_.

George feels his own smile become softer at the sight. He's never seen Dream's face in motion before, just caught glimpses in low-quality pictures or reflections. 

_I was right. He does squint when he laughs._

Dream's expression becomes a bit more hesitant, his gaze dropping away from George to focus on Patches instead. George wonders if Dream's interpreting his fond silence as something else, something a bit colder.

_Don't make a big deal out of it. It's just his face, and you know he's been nervous about it. Don't make it weird._

George clears his throat. "Patches is cute."

Dream sputters, burying his face in Patches' fur. The cat gives George an exasperated look but doesn't complain. " _Patches_ is cute?"

George raises an eyebrow. "You're saying she isn't? Rude. Sweetie, you can come live with me if you want. 

The camera moves as Dream sits upright, scooping Patches up with one arm and pressing his lips against the top of her head in a soft kiss. George can see most of his face now. "You can't have her, she's _mine_."

"We'll see." George reaches over and sets his snack bowl on his lap. "She warmed up to Sapnap, didn't she? I'm sure she'll just _adore_ me when I come over to Florida. And then she's gonna want to come back to England with me."

"First of all, she loves me more than anyone else in the world, so no." Dream gives Patches another kiss. She glares at him but she's purring loud enough that George can hear it. "Secondly, you're just gonna move back in with us next year, so even if you somehow _did_ steal her love away from me, I'd just get her back in a few months."

" _If_ I like you guys," George grumbles. "I'll move in with you guys _if_ I like you and you don't annoy me too much over the summer. Don't get your hopes up."

"You'll love us. I didn't scare Sapnap off, and he didn't piss me off. I'm sure you'll fit in just fine." Dream's grin grows a bit sharper. "You're gonna have a _lot_ of fun on the beach with us."

George frowns at the camera, which just makes Dream smile even more. "No, no, hold on, that wasn't part of the plan. I _heard_ Sapnap's horror stories about you. You're gonna drown me or something."

"Are you kidding me? _He's_ the one who kept tackling me!" Dream barks out a laugh, eyes squeezing shut for a moment. "If you're as tall as you say you are, he shouldn't be able to cause you too much trouble. You'll be fine. And you can always wimp out and sit on the sand instead."

"I _am_ as tall as him, Dream. Practically the same height." George huffs, looking away from the camera. "Are you calling me a liar?"

Dream pretends to think for a second. ". . .Yes."

"Dream!" George scowls at him-- _Dream's face, I can see his face_ \--and brings his phone closer to his face. "You dick, two inches is _not_ that big of a difference."

" _Two inches_ ," Dream wheezes, hiding his face behind Patches again. George feels his own cheeks heat up. "What was it you said in the money video? 'One and a half inches, _Dream_ ', right? You said it so _weird_."

"Oh my god." George's neck feels warm. "Shut up, you know what I meant."

"You're the one who _said_ it." Dream chuckles. "Okay, okay, at least tell me I'm pretty."

George frowns. "You're insufferable."

Dream lets out an overdramatic whine, flopping back down on his bed. Patches sits back down on his face and he sputters as he tries to get her fur out of his mouth. " _George!_ "

"What? You are." George rolls his eyes. "Don't make this a repeat of the 'tell me you love me' situation, Dream, that was annoying enough."

"But it worked, didn't it?" Dream raises his eyebrows; George can practically hear the smile in his voice. "Now you say it to me and Sapnap every night. It's great! You can say I'm pretty, there's no cameras, no one will judge."

_I mean, if I said it, it wouldn't be a lie. He is kinda pretty._

No, pretty isn't _quite_ the right word for Dream. If George is being honest, he isn't sure what _is_. He's not thinking _pretty_ or _handsome_ when looking at Dream's face; all he _can_ think about is how soft Dream's hair must be, how warm his cheek would be underneath George's fingers.

_Weird, weird, stop it._

George shakes his head. "Nope. Wouldn't be fair to Sapnap. I'd have to call him pretty too."

"Well, call him pretty, then." Dream says, like he's stating the obvious. "I'll pass on the message."

"Gross." George clicks on a movie, squinting at the description. "Can we watch something now? I have a couple of ideas."

"Alright." Dream switches off his camera. The room feels a bit colder without him there, probably because now George doesn't have live footage of Patches to watch. "Darling, baby girl, get down. It's George's turn for attention."

"I don't _need_ attention." George huffs, considering turning off his own camera because he knows it'd piss Dream off but eventually deciding against it. "C'mon, we're watching my movie now. Deal with it."

There's a few moments of silence as they both get the movie ready. Eventually, Dream speaks up. "For what it's worth, you're pretty too."

George blinks "Huh?"

He ignores the heat creeping up his cheeks. Maybe if he doesn't acknowledge it, it'll go away quicker. It's probably too dark for Dream to see it, anyway.

"You know the 'never seen two pretty best friends' joke? Well, that's totally a lie, because both of my best friends are pretty." Dream chuckles. "And so am I. So I guess we're _three_ pretty best friends. Impossible odds are just my thing, aren't they."

"Yeah, they certainly are." George grins, pausing his movie. He wishes Dream's camera was still on so he could see his friend's smile. His voice has gone all _soft_. George wonders what that looks like. "I'm the prettiest though."

"Hmmm, okay." Dream says. "Not exactly the right word, but sure."

"Oh, really? Then what's the right word?" George raises his eyebrows. He'd normally expect Dream to say something jokey, but Dream's silent for long enough to make George frown. "Dream?"

"You first. What's the right word for me? Since you won't call me pretty." Dream says. The words are teasing but the tone is sincere. George isn't sure how he's supposed to answer it.

He aims for playful banter, since that seems to be the safest bet. "Um, I don't know. I'll need to see your face again to find out."

Dream scoffs. "Scammer."

"What? How am I a scammer?" George glares at the camera. "How?"

"You're totally just stockpiling images to use as blackmail," Dream huffs. George can practically hear him rolling his eyes. _He's not actually upset. Still messing around._ "I'm willing to bet you took a ton of screenshots to add to your 'secret stash.'"

"I didn't take a single one, actually." George says, voice smug.

Dream pauses. "Wait, really?"

"Yeah, really. Why would I? The only pictures in this 'stash' you seem to think I have are of Patches. I don't take pictures of you guys, that's weird." George chooses to ignore the collection of blurry photos of Dream that he's saved to a folder in his phone. _He gave me those, that's different._ "Besides, it's not like I need to take pictures, because I'm gonna see your face again. Right?"

"Um," Dream's voice goes quiet. "Sure. Probably. I don't see why not. We can call again sometime."

"Oh, well, I was talking about the Florida trip. But if you want to call again before that, then sure! Whatever you want." George tries to sound encouraging but not too eager. Based on the way Dream chuckles, he's failing to hide his excitement. "Come on, it's not funny."

"It is, it is. Don't worry, I get happy to see your face too. C'mon, let's watch the movie now." And then Dream goes back to watching it like he hadn't just _said_ that.

He'd sounded honest, not like he was trying to make fun of George. And George supposes it isn't really that big of a deal. They're friends, of course they want to see each other's faces, learn each other's smiles. It's a perfectly normal thing.

The movie is _bad_. George spends more time listening to Dream's laughter than the actual film.

* * *

He blinks.

The room is dark. The ceiling is covered with dimly shining stars.

"Hello?"

George rolls over. There's someone standing in the doorway. He squints at them, trying to figure out who it is, but they're too indistinct. 

"Oh, good, you're awake." They move closer. George can't see anything except their soft smile. He lets out a sleepy grumble and buries his face into his pillow.

"Dream," He sighs, closing his eyes. The pillow is warm. "I _was_ asleep. Why'd you get me up?"

Dream chuckles, sitting down on the edge of the bed. George feels him pull the blanket away. "I wanted to see you, idiot. Why do you think I'm here? Calling's not enough anymore."

"I know, right?" George sits up, the blanket pooling in his lap. The room feels a lot brighter now. Dream's hair is just as messy as it was in the video call. "It _isn't_. So you came all the way out here to see me?"

"Of course. I would've done it earlier, but, well." After a moment's pause, Dream gives him a sad smile. "You were scared." 

George scoffs. "Scared of what? You?"

"Of us." Dream clarifies, reaching for George's face. His hands are soft, gentle. George leans into the touch. "You're scared of us."

"If I was scared of you and Sapnap, I wouldn't be flying all the way to Florida to see you guys." George mutters, ghosting his fingers along Dream's arms. _He has muscles. He'd probably give good hugs._ "So I think you're wrong about that."

Dream scoots closer so his legs are pressed against George's, sending sparkles of warmth dancing across George's skin. "I'm not sure how you're misunderstanding me. I'm _you_. I know what you're thinking."

"You're not me, you're _Dream_." George cups Dream's cheek with a hand. His thumb brushes against Dream's freckles; he has more than he did on camera. His skin looks flushed. "But explain it to me, if you know what I'm thinking."

"Well, I think. . ." Dream leans closer, breath ghosting across George's face. George freezes, shivering with anticipation. _He smells like citrus_. "That you're scared of a lot of things. If you keep denying them, they're going to haunt you."

"If this is what haunting is, I don't think that'd be a bad thing," George mutters, wanting to look away but unable to move. Dream's eyes are dark. They're supposed to be green.

Dream's lips brush against George's cheek as he whispers, "Is that what you think?"

He pulls away; George lets out a little whine at the loss of contact, reaching for Dream, but the man just catches George's wrists in his hands. 

"Really, tell me, is that what you think?" Dream repeats. "You're gonna have this and be happy?"

"I want whatever 'this' is, as long as I'm with you." George blurts out. Dream blinks at him, looking shocked for a moment. George doesn't stop. "I want you. I want this. I'm hurting, I _need_ -"

"But you _don't_." Dream drops George's hands, shifts his weight on the bed. "You don't know what you want. You don't know me. How can you? How can you know me when you don't even know yourself?"

"It's too late to be having this conversation. I literally just woke up." George grabs onto the front of Dream's shirt and carefully pulls him a bit closer. "We can talk in the morning."

Dream sighs. "I won't _be_ here in the morning, idiot."

He says it so fondly that it makes George's skin prickle. Dream doesn't complain when George continues to tug on him, easily convincing him to slide underneath the covers.

Dream stares at the ceiling for a moment. George can't look away from Dream's face, and it seems that Dream feels the same pull, because his gaze quickly slides back down to meet George's.

"You're so dramatic. Speaking in cliches, not making any sense." George mumbles. He wants to rest his head on Dream's chest, so he does. He can feel Dream's heartbeat, slow and calm compared to his own racing heart. "Why can't you just say what you mean?"

"Why can't _you?_ " Dream shoots back, but there's no venom in his voice. He starts combing his fingers through George's hair. "Why can't you just say what you want?"

George closes his eyes, burying his face in Dream's chest. All he can hear, feel, smell is _Dream_. He wants to stay like this forever. "I just did. I said I want you."

"You _think_ you want me; no, that you want Dream. But are you just telling yourself that?" Dream asks. "Or are you just in love with the idea of him? You've never met him, never actually seen him. He's just a friend."

" _Just_ a friend?" George hisses, narrowing his eyes at Dream. "You're saying that like it's a bad thing. Like you being my friend isn't enough. Your friendship is the most important thing in the world to me. It's not a, a _placeholder_ for something else."

"Then why are you so scared that you're gonna lose it? It's important to both of you. Dream's your friend. He's not gonna leave you unless you push him away." Dream gently pushes George off his chest, then rolls over so he's facing George. "Pursuing this isn't throwing away your friendship. It's just adding an extra layer to it, or something."

"But what is _this?_ " George asks. "What are you saying? And why do you keep changing your mind?"

Dream chuckles. He leans over and presses his lips against George's forehead. "No, _you're_ the one changing your mind all the time. I'm just narrating your thoughts, you know. Trying to help you understand them. But you're not making this easy for me."

"You're not making this easy for _me_." George holds his hands up, shows his shaking fingers to Dream before curling them into fists. Dream takes his hands and trails kisses along his knuckles. "Like- like that! You can't just _do_ stuff like that. You're going to tear me apart."

"There's going to be nothing left." Dream murmurs. "But will it be worth it?"

"What do you think? Should I?" George asks, resting his palm on Dream's chest and feeling him breathe. "I'm not even sure what I want. That's not fair to you. I know I want _you_ , but I still don't understand it."

Dream lets out a hum, pulling George closer. "Well, that's something to talk to him about, isn't it? You're not gonna get any answers talking to yourself."

"That's what I'm doing right now, talking to you. I'm telling _you_." George squints at Dream. "Are you even listening to me?"

"I'm not real, George. This isn't real. You're just talking to yourself." Dream buries his nose in George's hair, making George shiver with each breath he takes. "And this doesn't even count as _that_ , honestly. You won't remember most of this in the morning."

"It feels real. _You_ feel real." George tucks his face into the curve of Dream's neck. "So it _has_ to be real. I don't think I could make this up if I tried, because this is better than I ever could've imagined."

He can feel Dream smile. His throat buzzes against George's lips as he speaks. "What do you want, George?"

"I said _you_ ," George growls, tightening his grip on Dream. "Why is that so hard to understand?"

"But that's clearly not enough of an answer. I can hear you worrying. Do you want to be friends? Do you want to date him? What are you to each other?" Dream asks.

"I-I don't know. It doesn't need to be that complicated, does it?" George pulls away, blinking up at Dream. "We can just. . .have each other. If we're both happy, isn't that enough?"

Dream brushes his thumb against George's cheek. "That's up to you to decide. I might not be Dream, but I know him just as well as you do. I don't think you need to be scared of talking to him. He'll be willing to listen."

"But what am I supposed to _say?_ That I care about him and want to live with him and hold him and maybe ki-" George swallows, looking away. Dream's fingers carefully cup his chin, lifting it back up.

George looks into Dream's eyes, because if he starts looking at Dream's lips he won't be able to stop. "I shouldn't want to kiss him. He's my friend."

"Is there something wrong with that?" Dream asks, studying George intently. "You guys always say that friends can kiss each other."

"That's a _joke!_ " George hisses, pulling his head back. "If I chose to kiss him, then we'd have to become something. . .'more' than friends, right? It could ruin things. And I don't know if I'm brave enough to risk that."

"Is it something _more_ than friends, though? Or just something different?" Dream presses his lips against George's forehead, making him shiver. "You're scaring yourself, George. You two care about each other. You don't need to make it more complicated than that."

"Saying anything will _make_ it more complicated, though. I can't do that to him." George pulls himself closer, burying his face in Dream's chest. "If I can't even think of a word for what I want? That's not fair."

Dream moves his hand to rub circles against George's back. "Do you even need a specific word for it? A label? Can't you just talk to Dream, figure out what he wants, and go from there? You're only going to hurt yourself stressing out about this. He wouldn't want that."

"But if I don't have a word for it, I _can't_ talk about it. What the hell would I even say? 'Hey, I dunno if I wanna d-date you but I definitely like you in a different way than anyone else?'" George rolls his eyes. "He'd make so much fun of me."

"No he wouldn't." Dream's hand moves up so he can tangle fingers in George's hair. "You know he wouldn't. So why are you scared?"

"What if he wants less than I do?" George asks. "What if he wants _more?_ "

"You won't know until you _talk_." Dream slides his hand down to George's chin, tilting his head back so they can make eye contact. "Idiot. You don't have to jump all in, you know, no need to do it all at once. You can literally just start by saying you're glad you're becoming closer. Make it clear how much you appreciate the video call and the upcoming trip. Let him know you appreciate him. The rest will come with time. Don't be scared; you have plenty to look forward to."

George raises an eyebrow. ". . .I guess. Also, stuff to look forward to? Like what?"

"Like this." Dream presses a soft kiss to George's cheek. It burns _beautifully_. He leans away slightly, _giggling_ when George tries to lean into the touch, and wraps his long arms around George to pull him close again. "And like this."

" _Dream_ ," George breathes, wrapping his arms around Dream's neck and resting his forehead on Dream's collarbone. "Do that again."

He shivers when Dream presses a kiss to the top of his head before burying his nose in George's hair and letting out a quiet hum. "Don't you want this for real?"

"Of course, of _course_ I do." George breathes in _everything_ about Dream; the minty scent clinging to his cheek where Dream's lips had been a moment ago, the smell of laundry detergent and lemons on his hoodie, and underneath it all the unique smell of _Dream_. "How could I _not?_ "

"Then don't be scared." Dream brushes his thumb against the side of George's neck. "And go for it."

George closes his eyes and drifts off in Dream's arms. He thinks the taller man is singing softly to him, brilliant eyes shining with joy, but maybe that's just from the stars in the ceiling above.

* * *

He blinks.

The bed is empty, cold. His limbs are tangled in the blankets.

Despite this, the room feels a bit brighter, a bit warmer than it did when he first fell asleep.

He can't quite remember exactly _why_ he's happy, but he feels like it has something to do with Dream.

There's a message from Dream on his phone, actually; several hours old at this point. It's a picture of Patches, mouth open wide in either a yawn or a wail.

> **Dream** : _She misses your face :( she won't stop screaming_

George feels the corner of his mouth lift up in a grin. He snaps a photo of himself tucked in his blankets, his face hardly visible in the darkness of his room.

> **George** : _for Patches_

It only takes a few minutes for Dream to respond.

> **Dream** : _Of course_
> 
> **Dream** : _For Patches_
> 
> **George** : _(e_e)_
> 
> **Dream** : _You sound like Bad, what does that even mean?_
> 
> **George** : _it means I'm rolling my eyes at you_
> 
> **George** : _idiot_
> 
> **Dream** : _O.o_
> 
> **George** : _shut up_
> 
> **Dream** : _I didn't even SAY anything!_
> 
> **George** : _I know what you were thinking_
> 
> **Dream** : _I really doubt that_
> 
> **Dream** : _. . ._
> 
> **George** : _did you literally just type out three dots and send them to me for dramatic effect_
> 
> **Dream** :. _. . ._
> 
> **Dream** : _no_
> 
> **George** : _weirdo_
> 
> **Dream** : _Dare you to guess what I'm thinking_

George looks at the time, pulling a face, then takes a screenshot of his phone and sends it.

> **George** : _it's like four in the morning_
> 
> **Dream** : _Sucks to be you_
> 
> **Dream** : _Guess_
> 
> **George** : _oh my god_
> 
> **Dream** : _You texted me first, deal with it_
> 
> **Dream** : _You knew what you were getting into_
> 
> **Dream** : _Who knows, maybe talking to me will help you fall asleep_
> 
> **Dream** : _I made you fall for me I'm sure I can make you fall asleep_
> 
> **George** : _how did you know I was having trouble sleeping_
> 
> **George** : _also ew what the hell it's too early for this_  
> 
> 
> **George** : _Dream?_  
> 
> 
> **Dream** : _Sorry, had to show Patches your pic to calm her down_
> 
> **Dream** : _You texted me hours before you usually wake up_
> 
> **Dream** : _I'd say it's a pretty reasonable assumption_
> 
> **Dream** : _Stress? Nightmare? You piss the bed?_
> 
> **George** : _no that's your job_
> 
> **George** : _idk just woke up I guess. I was having a good dream for once actually_
> 
> **Dream** : _Oh?_
> 
> **George** : _what_
> 
> **Dream** : _Aw Gogy were you dreaming about me?_
> 
> **Dream** : _Did seeing my face put you in a good mood?_
> 
> **George** : _no_
> 
> **Dream** : _It's okay darling I just have that effect on people_
> 
> **George** : _DREAM_
> 
> **George** : _don't_
> 
> **Dream** : _okay chill it's just a joke :)_
> 
> **George** : _I know I know but you're still an idiot_
> 
> **Dream** : _You're breaking my heart George D:_
> 
> **Dream** : _You didn't answer my question though_
> 
> **George** : _NO I didnt dream about you_
> 
> **Dream** : _I meant the earlier question_
> 
> **George** : _oh the dare?_
> 
> **George** : _is it what you're thinking now or then?_
> 
> **Dream** : _Then_
> 
> **George** : _Hint?_
> 
> **Dream** : _It should be obvious enough_
> 
> **George** : _let me guess_
> 
> **George** : _me_
> 
> **Dream** : _hmmmmmmmm_
> 
> **George** : _simp_
> 
> **Dream** : _Not exactly_
> 
> **George** : _wait I was wrong?_
> 
> **Dream** : _No no you're on the right track, but get a bit more specific_
> 
> **George** : _um_
> 
> **George** : _hmm_
> 
> **George** : _you're mad at me for making Patches scream?_
> 
> **Dream** : _Nope_
> 
> **George** : _making fun of me for laughing at that dumb movie?_
> 
> **Dream** : _Nope!_
> 
> **George** : _> :( what is it_
> 
> **Dream** : _Patches doesn't miss your face that much, actually_
> 
> **George** : _ >:(((_
> 
> **Dream** : _What! It's true!_
> 
> **Dream** : _She was actually yelling for dinner_
> 
> **George** : _so you texted me a sad Patches picture...._
> 
> **George** : _to trick me into sending you a face pic?_
> 
> **Dream** : _Yep :D_
> 
> **George** : _why_
> 
> **Dream** : _I said PATCHES didn't miss your face_
> 
> **George** : _oh_
> 
> **George** : _but you did?_
> 
> **Dream** : _mmmmm_
> 
> **Dream** : _Yep_
> 
> **Dream** : _Suppose so_
> 
> **George** : _are you embarrassed :P_
> 
> **Dream** : _No_
> 
> **Dream** : _You have a nice face, of course I miss it_
> 
> **Dream** : _Handsome_
> 
> **George** : _stop_
> 
> **Dream** : _Hot_
> 
> **George** : _DREAM_
> 
> **Dream** : _Oh come on let me compliment you_
> 
> **George** : _I don't appreciate it_
> 
> **Dream** : _I'm sure_
> 
> **George** : _calling someone hot isn't a compliment_
> 
> **Dream** : _It is?????_
> 
> **George** : _no it's flirting_
> 
> **Dream** : _Same thing?_
> 
> **George** : _no_
> 
> **Dream** : _Flirting is just fancier compliments_
> 
> **George** : _well I don't like your fancy compliments_
> 
> **Dream** : _:(_
> 
> **George** : _normal ones are just fine_
> 
> **Dream** : _:D_
> 
> **Dream** : _Handsome_
> 
> **George** : _oh boy_
> 
> **Dream** : _Kind_
> 
> **Dream** : _Smart_
> 
> **George** : _okay I take it back_
> 
> **Dream** : _Beautiful_
> 
> **George** : _will you stop if I compliment you in return_
> 
> **Dream** : _George nothing would make me happier_
> 
> **George** : _...you're annoying when you're sleepy_
> 
> **Dream** : _Oh I'm wide awake for you_
> 
> **George** : _-_-_
> 
> **George** : _making it rather hard to compliment you_
> 
> **Dream** : _Okay okay I'll stop_
> 
> **Dream** : _< 3_
> 
> **George** : _no more jokes I'm actually trying to be SERIOUS_
> 
> **Dream** : _A real compliment?_
> 
> **George** : _dude just stop interrupting_

George sighs, rubbing at his face with his free hand. Dream is just _too much,_ sometimes. Not necessarily in a bad way. But he's become a _lot_ bolder with his jokey flirting, especially recently. It has started to cross the line from funny into annoying, honestly.

_Especially since when we're talking in private like this, without an audience that we need to keep entertained, it feels a bit more sincere. I know this is just how he is with his friends, 'loving the homies' and all that, but I never know when to take him seriously or when he's joking anymore._

_Are these compliments genuine? Jokes? Something in between?_

George decides to aim for honesty with this, just in case.

> **George** : _you're smart_
> 
> **Dream** : _:D_
> 
> **George** : _like genuinely_
> 
> **George** : _it's not just that you're good with coding, you also know how to fix problems no one else would notice_
> 
> **George** : _you're like a puppy_
> 
> **George** : _okay wait hold on that sounded weird_
> 
> **George** : _you're earnest, eager, friendly_
> 
> **Dream** : _omg_
> 
> **George** : _??? sorry_
> 
> **Dream** : _No no that's a good omg please continue <3_
> 
> **George** : _you're acting like I have a whole list :P_
> 
> **Dream** : _Don't you?_
> 
> **Dream** : _I know I could write whole books about you_

_Oh my god._

George stares up at the ceiling for a moment, not sure if he's annoyed or flattered by Dream's overdramatic cheesy. . .compliment?

> **George** : _I would burn them_
> 
> **Dream** : _D:_
> 
> **George** : _okay anyways_
> 
> **George** : _you care deeply about people_
> 
> **George** : _you have a good face_
> 
> **George** : _and anyone would be happy to spend time with you_
> 
> **Dream** : _Holy shit George I might actually cry_
> 
> **George** : _that's a good thing right_
> 
> **Dream** : _YES_
> 
> **Dream** : _< 3_
> 
> **Dream** : _All of the same to you and MORE you're amazing George_
> 
> **George** : _< 3_

George frowns at the lone heart he just sent, almost wishing he could take it back. It feels dishonest, somehow.

_I don't think I'm using it in the same way he is, anymore._

> **Dream** : _One question_
> 
> **Dream** : _"good face" ?????_
> 
> **Dream** : _Out of all the words, GOOD?_
> 
> **George** : _Honesty hour means honesty, Dream_
> 
> **Dream** : _George come on_
> 
> **Dream** : _You don't have to say I'm hot or anything, but am I at least attractive?_
> 
> **George** : _...I guess_
> 
> **George** : _any girl would be lucky to have you_
> 
> **Dream** : _Or guy_

George winces. _Shit, right._

> **George** : _or guy_
> 
> **George** : _istg if you and Sapnap start flirting with each other during the trip I'm jumping out of a moving vehicle_
> 
> **Dream** : _Aww jealous?_
> 
> **George** : _no_
> 
> **George** : _just annoyed_
> 
> **Dream** : _Sure :P_
> 
> **George** : _okay I should probably try to sleep again for real this time_
> 
> **George** : _thanks for talking_
> 
> **Dream** : _Of course! Good night <3_

George doesn't send one back.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Friendship ended with Dream x George, now Dream Dream x George is my new best friend.
> 
> Dream sequences are surprisingly fun to write. Does George remember any of the details? Not really. But it still made a difference for him. Also yes, Dream Dream is overly dramatic and speaks in cliches, but A: normal Dream is ALSO dramatic (and not subtle at all lol) and B: it's a dream, things are often exaggerated in those.
> 
> Figured we needed a soft chapter after the previous one and before the rest of the fic <3 See you folks with the next update!
> 
> Also: George's sexuality in this fic is going to purposefully be left ambiguous, at least for now. Up to reader interpretation. If you see yourself in him, I'm glad; it means I'm doing my job :D
> 
> But yeah that dream sequence was the most nervewracking thing to post so far. Lots of fun to write but it's kinda more personal to me than anything else in this fic so far? So idk if anyone else will relate to it at all or if it'll even make sense to other people.
> 
> As always, thank you all so so much <3 Your comments always make my day :D


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